


I Shall Save Myself

by myscribblings



Category: Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-19
Updated: 2018-04-25
Packaged: 2018-10-20 20:20:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 28
Words: 31,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10670067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myscribblings/pseuds/myscribblings
Summary: In the second Battle of Odessan, amid the chaos, Empress Vaylin acts to protect herself at the last moment, changing the fates of herself and everyone around her.





	1. The Final Chain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An alternative ending for Chapter 8 of Knights of the Eternal Throne, and the first part of an alternative universe story starting from there. Told from the point of view of a Light Side Jedi Outlander who has followed the main story up to this point. Then, things go sideways.

I am the only one still standing, and can just barely walk against the wind. She’s afraid, I can hear it, she’s practically whimpering. I feel for her, I really do, but she’s broken, dangerous, and has to die. There’s no other way.

Suddenly, the wind stops, and I stumble forward, surprised. Vaylin’s saber skill is not on my level, but in that moment, it is enough. She leans forward and I feel an all-too familiar pain, her light saber piercing me.

Vaylin straightens and smiles at me. She steps towards me, whispering in my ear, “Did you really think I was going to let your pet just walk up and stab me?” A slight pause, then, “Father?” A word she says with subtle contempt.

I try to lift my own weapon, but with this injury I cannot resist her power, even as hurt as she is from the previous battle. She deactivates the saber and pins me to the ground, knocking my breath out with crushing force.

“Now you’ll have a scar to go with the one my brother gave you, Outlander.” She looks suddenly thoughtful. “If you survive. Father saved you, didn’t he? That won’t happen again. I’ll make sure of that.”

Valkorian emerges as he has in the past, trying to stop time, then trying her command phrase. The one I used the last time I saw her, and tried it again to save Torian. Making her hate me more, verifying to her that I was willing to cage her like he did. Even when these attempts fail, he still appears confident. “Daughter…”

He does not finish. Senya and Arcann have regained their feet. Senya shouts, “Vaylin, no!” I hear light sabers activating. All I can see is Vaylin’s smile widening as she gestures, and I hear two bodies thudding again against the cracked wall. “Not now, Mother, I don’t have time. Father and I must talk.” Her tone has lightened, she sounds like she did when I first met her in person. Of course, she was telling me at the time that she was going to kill my friends. Now, she has finally killed at least one.

She looks down at me again. “What was it you said to me? Killing Father wouldn’t heal my scars?”

“You said you didn’t have any,” I gasp out. Her smile is gone, now.

“You idiot. My father caged me like a beast for my entire childhood, had me experimented on, cut me off from my power, from the Force. Tortured me, ‘conditioned’ me. I don’t have scars.” She kneels down and leans close, so close I can feel her breath on my face. She says, tightly, “I have rage.” She stands again. “And you have platitudes. And your little manipulations, like everyone else, like Scorpio, like my brother. And you had my chains, and the willingness to use them. What did you think was going to happen? What I would say?”

She looks back at Torian’s corpse, then back down at me. “What I would do?”

Her hands are crackling with lightning, now, building up slowly. I brace for the pain. If only because it will be over quickly, it won’t be as bad, I think, as what her father did to her. What I chose to help him continue.

There is no death, there is the Force.

“I do hate you, so very much. But, I’m going to give you a chance. Not because you’ve earned it, but because you’re just not that important. Maybe, maybe Father was holding your chains. I don’t have the time left and I simply don’t care what happens to you. Or Mother, or my brother, for that matter. It is over.”

Valkorian, Vitiate, tries again. Now, though, he has lost that smug tone I have hated. He actually sounds scared. “Vaylin…”

She cuts him off. “No.” Again, that slight pause. “Father.”

Force lightning streams from her hands, but it does not touch me. Instead, it flows into the ghost, surrounding him and burning into him. It is almost blinding, but I force myself to watch. I hear only her wrath and his screams for what seems like hours.

I see her then, glorying in her power and rage, almost laughing, wild. Free. She sounds like she is weakening, but still shouts above the storm, “How does it feel to be erased from the galaxy?” Then, one last bright flash finally forces me to turn away. And, with that, he is gone. The weight on my mind has been lifted, and I sense nothing left of the thing that has plagued the galaxy for centuries.

When my vision clears, she is still standing, looking towards where Valkorian had seemed to be. The ground is now scored and cracked.

She seems different. Almost calm. Now that it is gone, I realize that we have been surrounded by her rage since this invasion. It being gone is almost as much a relief as the Emperor being gone. I hear radio chatter as her forces begin to surrender.

We’ve won?

No. She’s won. We are just benefiting from it.

She walks over to me, then, and looks down. Her eyes are blue like her brother’s. She sags to her knees, holding my gaze. “You were wrong. Sometimes, the only way to heal scars is to strike back at the ones that caused them.”

“I’m sorry.” I can barely manage a whisper.

“You should be.” She looks away and smiles, then, not the predatory grin she had only moments before, but as though at some private joke. Then, her eyes close and, with a sigh, she collapses beside me. Only then do I finally lose consciousness.


	2. We Will Save Who We Can

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Empress has fallen, the Commander is sorely injured, and the Alliance has arrived in the midst of all this to tend to their surviving forces.

Theron and Koth were the first on the scene during the surrender of Vaylin’s forces. The Eternal Fleet was still, the Skytroopers shut down. Most of the Alliance’s Force sensitives were incapacitated, unconscious or at least suffering severe pain. Sana-Rae had stayed in the Enclave, and was somewhat protected there. She reported that there had been a massive release of energy where the Commander had confronted the Empress.

No one was moving when they arrived. Vaylin and the Commander were side-by-side on the ground. She had been defeated, finally, but at heavy cost.

Theron did not trust Koth with Senya or Arcann, but Vaylin’s well-being was pretty far down on his list of priorities, so he said, “Koth, check the Commander. I’ll check the others.”

Koth hesitated, looking at Vaylin, but still went to the Commander’s side.

Theron saw the damage to the wall, and passed a section of the ground that had been so heated that the stone melted and cracked. What in the world had happened here?

A pained voice came over the com system. It was Lana. “Koth, Theron, report? What is happening out there?”

Koth answered first. “The Commander is badly hurt, bad light saber wound, at least as bad as what the Prince did.” He still refused to call Arcann by name. “We need a medical team.”

The other two were already stirring as Theron reached them. “Senya and Arcann look like they took a beating but seem fine.” He reached Senya and offered his hand, but she waved him off and stood, though not without effort. Arcann stood slowly, taking in the battlefield.

“Mother?”

“I’m all right, Son. It’s over.”

Lana broke in again. “Has anyone checked Vaylin?”

Other forces were arriving, a medical team first. They were preparing the Commander to be moved to facilities in the base. The healing that Valkorian had provided last time seemed to be absent. It was going to be touch and go for a while. Koth was helping the medical team.

“She’s down, Lana, and looks badly hurt. I don’t think she survived whatever the Commander did after being stabbed, whatever you felt. No way to know for sure.” He looked at the mother and son. They both shook their heads. They had been out, also. “Our royals were both unconscious. We had no eyes on the fight.”

Lana pointed out, “Well, considering the power of the Emperor and Vaylin, it could have been either one of them.” She became more insistent. “Again, has anyone actually checked Vaylin?”

“Sorry, Lana, this is all a lot to take in. Senya is checking. We’ll keep our forces at a distance, just in case.”

Senya knelt down next to her daughter, hesitant. She was not sure she wanted to know, to verify her fears. Vaylin had several “minor” saber wounds (they were never really minor), some of which her mother had inflicted. Arcann put his hands on her shoulders, and said to her, “It’s all right, Mother. We did what we had to.”

Then she saw it. Her daughter was breathing, shallowly, raggedly.. Senya put her hands to her mouth. She did not know for a moment what to do. But only for a moment.

“She’s alive!” she shouted. She took her son’s living hand, and whispered, “She’s alive.”

Koth glanced over, a scowl on his face. “So? We’re not going to do anything to help her.”

Theron didn’t care for the idea of not tending to a defeated enemy, but in this case, he found himself agreeing. However, he knew that the Commander would not approve. She was beaten. One of the rules was, we will save who we can. That’s what the Alliance stood for. “Koth, you know we have to.”

“No! I had friends in the military, even a few with the Knights! Do you know how many of them aren’t here now? Because of her? That’s even before our people, like Torian How does she get to live when they’re dead?”

Before Theron or Lana could respond, to agree or otherwise, a deep, quiet voice ended the argument.

“I’m afraid”, it said, “we must insist.”

Arcann had taken a position between his sister and the armed troops, hand on his lightsaber. Their mother got to her feet and joined him.

Koth glared at them, but eventually threw up his hands. “Fine, you want to save that monster, that’s your business. Not in our base. We don’t want her anywhere near the Commander. Or any of us.” He hadn’t asked, but no one voiced disagreement. “Get a ship, take her away from here, hopefully you’ll crash in the wild. I’m done here.” He followed the medical team inside.

“Thank you, Son.”

Theron walked to them. “He has a point, though. I know this is hard, but our wounds are too fresh.” He glanced at Arcann. “And a lot of our allies already have complaints. She won’t be safe here.”

Senya had gone back to tending her daughter, so Arcann responded. “Understood. Give us a shuttle and a single medical droid. Kolto if you can spare it. We will take her into the surrounding wilderness while we plan for more permanent arrangements.”

Theron nodded. “Good, we’ll do what we can here.” He looked over to Torian, added him to the tally of the dead she had caused, but also remembered the reports from Nathema. “We’ll find you your kolto. If the Commander dies, though, and she’s still alive, make sure you are off-world as soon as possible.”

Arcann nodded. After the shuttle arrived, he checked it over (he trusted some members of the Alliance, but not all, especially now) while Senya tenderly carried the former Empress and placed her in the bed in the back and activated the medical droid. While she watched over Vaylin, Arcann flew the ship out until it was no longer in sight of the base.

Theron stood on the platform, watching them go, making sure they were not easily followed. He sighed deeply. “Commander, I hope your rules aren’t the death of us. Or of you.” He turned and went back inside, deciding to walk to the war room. He needed time.


	3. A New Creation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Empress Vaylin is being cared for by her family, who won’t leave her side, but they are needed. No one else will care for her, and certainly won’t protect her. Lana and Theron approach Dr. Oggurobb for a solution.

Dr. Oggurobb looked very pleased with himself, but sometimes it was hard to tell, he had that expression so often. Lana spoke first. “Is your design finished?”

The doctor responded, “Oh, yes! I do not know why you went through so much effort to save her, but who am I to turn down Inspiration?” He turned to his panels, and a holo activated. “I don’t have a name for it yet, we developed it too quickly, but it should meet all your needs. A small, portable enclosure, with fully automated medical and defensive facilities. With some modifications, it should be useful in helping our forces survive the more extreme battlefield injuries.”

He pressed some buttons, and the holo zoomed in to the inside of the design. “Of course, considering who will be occupying the prototype, it has almost as many automated weapons inside, and the unit will be sealed unless authorized personnel unlock it from the outside. It is reasonably self sufficient for at least a month, for both medical and dietary needs. If the occupant can gather local resources, considerably longer, but of course that won’t be possible in this case.”

Theron said, “Still, let’s put the first one down somewhere with some kind of access to edibles and water. I’m sure the Tiralls will appreciate it.”

Lana took it all in, then said, “All right, Doctor, it looks as though you’ve surpassed yourself, as you somehow always do. Considering the delicate nature of the project, we will need the names of everyone that worked on it so they can be debriefed.”

Oggurobb thought, and replied, “It was just me and my usual staff. Oh, and young Vette helped with some of the automation routines.”

The two humans looked at one another. Theron spoke first. “You didn’t tell her what this was for, did you?”

“Of course not! We have kept the actual reason for the prototype, or why it became priority, in strictest confidence.”

Lana looked suspicious. “Did she, by any chance, make any suggestions on the design?”

“Oh! Yes, just one, we have added a small but efficient explosive device to destroy the unit. It would be a tragic loss, and an expensive one, but we don’t want any of our opponents to capture our Creations. It can be detonated remotely or with several pre-programmed triggers.”

Theron rubbed his face with one hand. Lana looked at the ceiling for a moment. They said together, “She knows.”

“I’ll have my people bring her in. Hopefully she can be made to understand the need for secrecy, if nothing else.” Theron walked out of the room.

Dr. Oggurobb asked, “Is everything all right? Should we remove the explosive from the design?”

Lana, ever pragmatic, replied, “No, leave it in for the prototype. We will discuss it with future production.” She paused, “All right, Doctor, the prototype is your highest priority. How long will it take?”

“No more than a week. We already have fabricators ready and programmed with the designs. I still do not understand all this effort for a person that will likely try to kill us if she recovers.”

Theron returned just then. “It’s the right thing to do. Probably. Maybe. Are we doing the right thing, Lana?”

“Perhaps. Regardless, we are committed to this course. Anyway, we will need Senya and Arcann soon, and they will not leave her side without some kind of assurance that she will be protected and cared for.”

“Oh, yes, your brilliant plan.”

“It is a risk, but it is necessary. Thank you, Doctor, we will be checking in daily. Theron, we need to go meet with Senya at the meeting point to discuss the next steps.”

“The fun never ends.”

“No, it really doesn’t.”

Finally, they left the doctor. He released some of C2’s aroma of the week. It was going to be a long day of invention. He already had a dozen refinements to make for the next production model and needed a name for it. “To Inspiration.” He returned to his work.

* * *

As promised, just less than a week later, the prototype was ready. It was transported well outside the base, put down next to a lake surrounded by thick forest. Arcann and Senya brought the former Empress, now prisoner of the Alliance and the most hated woman in the galaxy, to the site. Though her injuries had been mostly mended, they gingerly took her from the shuttle and carried her to the cubicle. The sensors recognized them, two of four people that had been granted access, and the defenses went into stand-by mode and the door opened.

Senya carried her daughter into what would be her prison, if she ever returned to herself, and laid her down into the medical bay. She bent down and kissed her on the forehead, then exited the unit. She nodded to Arcann and took Lana’s call.

While his mother assured Lana that it was them, and that the transfer had gone smoothly, he stepped into the cube. He walked to his sister’s side and laid his hand on her shoulder. He said nothing. Soon, he turned and joined his mother.

Unnoticed, a spark of lightning traced the young woman’s face, then was gone, before the internal sensors could activate for the first time.

The doors sealed behind Arcann, and the camouflage systems activated. Mother and son knew that they were now being tracked by sensors and a fair amount of firepower. It would not be enough to stop a concerted effort, but they were needed. If any of them were to have a chance, including Vaylin, they would need to leave her for a time. No one else would tend her or protect her. They would have to trust her to this technology filled box in the wilderness.

They returned to the shuttle and flew back to base. Behind them, their only remaining family slept, but not well.


	4. The Eternal Throne, Part 1: The Emperor’s Return

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Empress Vaylin is still comatose from her injuries and other factors, and before her condition can change, for better or worse, the Alliance determines to take the Eternal Throne.
> 
> Part of the re-write of the similarly titled chapter in KotET. Four chapters for this section.

Lana started off the discussion. “The Fleet is essential. We cannot let it go to waste.”

Koth responded, “Maybe, but him? Why not just hand the fleet back to the Empress?”

Theron asked, “What, aside from the obvious?”

Lana rolled her eyes. “We won’t do that, Koth, but he has proven himself so far, and is the only option we have.”

“He says.”

“No, Koth, I say. As far as we can tell, the Throne will not accept anyone not of Valkorian’s line. It would have recognized the Commander, being possessed by Valkorian, but that is no longer possible. No trace of the Emperor’s spirit remains, and the injuries sustained in the fight with Vaylin make it impossible, anyway.”

Theron put in, “Not that putting the Emperor back on the throne was ever exactly a good idea.”

Koth had looked saddened, but shot Theron an angry look at that, and said, “We should just let her die. That would solve all of our problems.”

Senya, who had been sitting silently through the debate, suddenly seethed. Lana wondered how long it would be before she injured Koth. Before anything else could happen, her son stood and spoke for the first time. “That is not going to happen, Vortena. Even if we would allow it, the throne has been occupied for centuries. We have no idea what the fleet will do if that changes.”

Hylo muttered, “Finding that out might have been good before hitting her with your light sticks.”

Koth spat back at Arcann, “You’d say anything to save that twisted maniac.”

Lana held up a hand. “Yes, I’m sure he would, as would Senya. That does not mean they are wrong.”

Koth sat back down, still angry, but staying silent for the moment.

“All right, I’m starting to like our former emperor, I guess, but his time on the throne wasn’t great. Could we just let the Fleet rust where it is?” asked Theron.

Teeseven interjected a series of beeps. “In space==Won’t rust.”

Theron pinched the bridge of his nose. “Yes, Teeseven, I know. How about this: Couldn’t we just assemble our forces and blast them into space dust?”

Beywan answered, “The Fleet is too large, it would take the combined firepower of the Empire, Republic, and ourselves years to destroy them all. If they were clustered together, the Gravestone could probably take care of the problem, but they are scattered throughout the galaxy.”

Dr. Oggurobb also put in, over the holo, “They might also act to defend themselves, even without control.”

“Besides, as I said, we have need of the Fleet. Rescue and rebuilding operations alone make it invaluable. We need an ally on the throne.” Lana paused. “Even one we do not fully trust.”

“My son will not betray you,” Senya said, through gritted teeth. She did not want to be here. She wanted them both to be with Vaylin. Unfortunately, they were right, they needed Arcann, but they did not trust him. They trusted her, at least most of them, but she did not trust any of them enough to help keep him safe, so here she was. It was breaking her heart to leave Vaylin alone again, unable to defend herself, but she would do her duty, and she would protect her son.

“It is all right, Mother, I have more than earned their scorn.” He turned and looked around the room. “But I will not fail you. I will not fail Zakuul again, or the Alliance.”

There was a long silence, which Theron finally broke. “Without the Fleet, the Spire’s defenses are weakened, but the soon-to-be-former Empress has a surprising number of loyalists.We should be able to drop you close, but there will still be some fighting on the way to the throne room.”

“We will try to harm as few of them as possible,” Senya said.

Koth snorted. “Why start now?”

Lana intervened. “Koth, enough. You all have your assignments. May the Force be with you.”

* * *

The attack had gone well. As Theron had said, the Spire’s defenses were light, consisting only of Knights and a handful of other Zakuulian troops. Combined with the fact that their tactics had for years been built around working with Skytroopers, the small numbers presented few challenges. Senya and Arcann had been able to escape inflicting severe injury so far.

Then, an experienced, larger group of Knights had placed a wall between them and forced them apart. Three of them engaged the son, while the bulk surrounded the mother, who they believed was the greater threat.

They were right, of course. As powerful as Arcann had become, she was still the more experienced fighter. He smiled at the grunts and shouts of pain he heard from the other side of the barrier. She could handle them, and he would be able to join her soon.

Then, he heard and, more, felt his mother’s pain.

On the other side of the barrier, Senya had mistimed a parry and paid the price. She had been slashed along the leg, a painful injury, and it would make it harder to drive back these knights, but survivable. Still, it was enough that she cried out for a moment.

Suddenly, the barrier the Knights had erected was smashed down by a blast of Arcann’s power. He stood there, glaring at the Knights that were still standing. The three he had been fighting were in midair, grasping at their throats in pain, until he flung them at the knot fighting her.

This was not an Arcann she had seen since the ritual on Voss. His eyes were blue, the mask was gone, but every centimeter of his stance and the rage in his face were those of the former Emperor of Zakuul. The man that had killed his own twin.

He threw himself at the remaining Knights, his rage giving him the raw power to fling them back. His lightsaber cut down those closest to him while he flung the remains of the barrier at those farther away. Their lines broken, having no defense against this monster, the last few standing attempted to surrender.

He stalked towards them, showing no intention of accepting.

“Arcann, stop! It’s over!” Senya shouted after him. He did not appear to have heard. He lifted his weapon, preparing to cut down his unarmed foes.

“I’m all right, son! I’m all right!” she suddenly shouted.

He stopped, his stance altered, the palpable feeling of rage easing. Slightly. He turned towards her, and his eyes widened. “Mother?”

She turned to the Knights. “You, save who you can, and leave here. Quickly. And tell everyone to stay out of our way” They nodded and did as she’d ordered. She limped to Arcann, looked into his eyes. He still looked angry, but more in control. “Are you all right, Son?”

He stood motionless for a moment. “No. It is still so hard sometimes. And I could not stand to lose you again.”

She studied his face. He was growing calmer, but it was taking time. “Can you go on? Can you still take the Throne?”

He looked to the sky, to the Knights he had killed in that rage. More regret. He stood straight. “I am sorry for this, but, like you, I will do my duty.”


	5. Eternal Throne, Part 2: This Isn’t Over

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vaylin awakes, she thinks, but does not know where she is. An unwelcome presence intrudes.

She had no idea where she was, or how she’d gotten there. Her surroundings were odd, damaged. Broken landscapes. Stars, but no star field she had ever seen. The Eternal Throne, out on the open landscape and fallen to one side. She felt she knew the place, but could not think clearly.

Then, that voice. “Vaylin.”

She reached down to her belt. Her lightsaber was not there.

“No, Daughter. Your weapon, the weapon I gave you, will not serve you here. Nor will your power.”

“‘Father’. I thought I was finally rid of you.”

“Yes, you weakened me, but you could not destroy me, even with all your unleashed strength. You are my family, and that same power now nourishes me. You could not end my existence, and will soon effect my rebirth.”

She looked at the sky. “This isn’t real, is it? We are in my mind. How do I know you are real and not just some left over bit of his control? Lingering fear?”

He looked amused. “You admit that you feared me?”

“Answer the question.”

“Search your feelings, child. Of course I am real.”

She looked at him, hating to admit it, but knowing it was true. “I suppose you are. So, I am to take the Outlander’s place, then? Become your new pet?”

He chuckled. “In a way. You are to become what the Outlander would have, if you had not intervened. You will be the host for my consciousness.”

She tilted her head. “I assume you won’t be sharing?”

“No, child, I am sorry.” He had a talent for sounding like he meant that. She knew very well he did not. “Your spirit will be obliterated, your strength added to my own.”

“I’m sure you think that, but I will find a way to stop you.”

“You? Daughter, you are barely above an animal, your mind is cracked and ruined, and your power is mine to command. Surrender yourself, and at least your destruction will be painless.”

It was Vaylin’s turn to laugh. “Pain? You think I fear pain? Fool.” She came to a realization, suddenly. “And you are lying.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Aside from the fact that I hear your voice? You are in my mind and we are family. Much as I hate it, we have a connection. That is how you are drawing on my power, and it is why I know there is a way.”

He smiled. “My clever daughter.”

“Never call me that. You have no children. You have husks that you would inhabit, if they prove ‘worthy’. You are filth, a parasite feeding on the galaxy. And I will take great pleasure in destroying you as many times as it takes!”

He actually looked taken aback by that. Then, he grew angry. “Very well, but you are still a child, and I am still a god.”

A surge of power caught her, tearing at her skin, hurling her back across the landscape. He had been telling the truth about one thing: She was powerless. She had no way to defend herself against him. She felt herself splintering, dispersing across the ethereal landscape.

For a time, she was on the verge of nothingness, but the remnants of her consciousness saw only one thing: his arrogant smile. They felt only one thing: her raw hatred for him.

She would not let him beat her.

She came back from the void, greatly weakened Almost too weakened. She felt her father’s satisfaction that she had been destroyed as he returned to the task of taking full control. She should have some time.

The attack revealed what was necessary, as his mind touched hers, attempting to erase her. There were things here in her shattered self that could help her, memories, tools. Pieces that would make her stronger. She needed to find them.

She hoped that was not another lie.

She ran first to the throne. It had to be one of those pieces, it had been such an important part of her life for so long. But, when she reached it, it had been righted. Valkorion was there, regal, powerful. She should have known: the Throne was his, not hers.

It had never been hers.

She barely avoided his gaze, and fled once again.

After some searching, she found a cave. She hoped it would hide her, so entered. Inside, she found tableau of two figures in combat. One was the Outlander. The other was her. It looked like a place in the real world, not a surreal piece of her damaged mind, but she had never been there. The other Vaylin was still in the garb of the High Justice. It made no sense.

Still, perhaps she could take advantage of this. She stepped up to the other her, and tried to take her lightsaber. As she reached out, both figures turned to mist, and flowed into her.

It had been a test. For the Outlander. A piece of her spirit had been pulled to this place to fight, and die, and prove that she was a threat and that she could be beaten. How infuriating. One of them was harboring the greatest monster the galaxy had ever seen, actually listening to him, but she was the one that had to die.

And she almost had. She might still. She muttered under her breath, “If I do, I will drag you down with me, ‘Father’.”

She had played her part, though, being the “villain” to the Outlander’s “hero”. She could not fault them completely for treating her that way.

She saw a tunnel leading out, and she followed it. She wondered as she walked how much of these events were because of Valkorion’s manipulation. Could that fight have, somehow, been his doing? Perhaps to try to portray her as the final challenge? To cover his own agenda?

At the end of the tunnel was the machine that had freed her. She stared at it in shock, almost feeling sick. She had to remind herself that she was not on Nathema. She walked into the chamber, looking about nervously. Across the chamber, frozen like the combatants in the cave, was the scientist that had built it. She walked to him, touched him like the others.

Memories once again, this time of small things she had missed in her desperation to be free. The Sanitarium was Valkorion’s. Everything that happened there was by his design. The machine had freed her power, but broken her mind further. All to give him an alternative should the Outlander be the one to fall.

She had been just as much the fool as the Outlander had. She had been asked what Valkorion’s motivation was. She had been too enraged to care, so desperate to escape her cage that she had willingly stepped into another one.

At that thought, the machine activated. before she could escape, sickly green rays reaching for her. She braced herself for that pain, but before they touched her she was plunged into blackness. She woke back in her cage. For a moment, she thought that this was reality, that she had never been brought home. She had to stifle a scream. Like the machine, it could not be real, but she could not quite believe it. She looked down at herself.

She was wearing the Empress’s robes. She was not still there. She breathed a sigh of relief.

She began to look around her cell, trying to find a way to escape. The door was sealed. Had the Emperor realized she still lived and imprisoned her? She did not feel his hand in this, but how could she be sure?

Her eyes fell upon her old journal. She flipped it open, and found the picture, her only reminder of what freedom looked like. She touched the picture, and was there, in the sun. It was beautiful, but unchanging. It was still that picture, etched in her memory, but she had escaped her cage.

She would have to visit. Alderaan, she’d been told. Not as a conqueror. Who would burn such a beautiful place?

She would have.

She heard her mother’s voice. “Broken.”

She shook her head. She knew this was almost over. It was suddenly dark. Flickering flames. Dripping water. Had her daughter protected her?

That last part was not her thought. And she could not answer the question it asked. She reached down, knowing what she would find, what she was here for. Her carving. A piece of her childhood she had thrown away to show her contempt. For her mother. For that child. She took it back, and she could feel the Force flow through her.

Once again, she was before the throne. She smiled up at her father.


	6. The Eternal Throne Part 3: A New Era

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _The Commander is still healing. Current Empress Vaylin appears comatose, but has her own battles to win. Arcann is to take the Throne to control the Fleet, with Senya at his side. The battle that had raged in the Spire is winding down, the remaining Zakuulian troops no match for the Alliance. The battle will soon be decided._

“Jorgan, report.”

“Admiral Aygo, everything is going well, sir. Without the Fleet, Zakuulian forces were not able to put up substantial resistance. Other than the Knights themselves, their limited ground forces have been routed. Most are preparing surrender.”

Well, that was a relief, thought Bey’wan. “And the Tiralls?”

“They encountered some resistance, an elite unit, but the fight didn’t last long.” And was brutal. Jorgan could not tell from his vantage what had happened, but Arcann appeared to lose control. Still, it was combat. He wasn’t going to judge a fellow soldier for surviving. “They have broken through into the Palace.”

“Acknowledged. Good work.” Bey’wan was unsure of this plan, but Lana had been right, the Fleet couldn’t just be left uncontrolled. “May the Force be with us,” he muttered under his breath.

* * *

Arcann looked up at the throne, remembering the power it gave him. That amazing feeling of being not just in charge of his own destiny, but that of the galaxy. At least, that was what he had thought. Now he understood how much of that control had been an illusion, a trick by his father. Finally, he walked forward and took the throne. He felt it accept his claim.

The Alliance watched as he sat in silence, two minutes, three. Finally, he lifted his head and addressed them. “People of the galaxy. Of the Sith Empire and the Republic. People of Zakuul and the Alliance. I, Arcann, prince of the royal family of Zakuul, declare a new era.”

He stood and walked forward, stepping before his mother, who was beaming with pride for how far he had come, and while he still had far to go, she knew he would never stop striving. The Eternal Empire would have the leader it deserved.

And perhaps it would, but not the way she thought. He suddenly knelt before her, bowing his head. “The reign of the Empress Senya Tirall.”

Shock ran through Odessan, and probably the galaxy. Arcann looked up at her, his face a mixture of the pride that caused him to make this choice, and pleading that she would accept it. “Mother, the Eternal Throne is yours.”

She looked down, bent towards him, and spoke quietly, so that only he could hear, “I am not going to forgive you for this, Son.”

“A joke? You? Now?”

“We’ll see.” She stood straight, looked up at the throne, but still did not move.

“Please, Mother, you are the only one, at least the only one I trust for it. I know I should not have chosen for you, but you can still walk away. Please, don’t.”

She looked back down to him, and sighed. “You know I can’t.”

She turned to the galaxy at large. “Zakuul, I am not your Empress. But I will lead you, for as long as I can, as best I can. We shall take our proper place in the Galaxy, not as rulers, but as allies, helping to repair what we have damaged. And, as part of the Alliance, and whatever it becomes.” Lana, watching the video, would swear that Senya gave her, personally, a warning glance as she said “whatever it becomes”. Vaylin had done that sometimes, and it was always disconcerting. The feeling passed.

Senya turned, walked up the stairs, and took the seat. She felt it accept her, felt the power it gave her, and hoped she would be worthy of it.

Back at Odessan base, a cheer went up. The war, or at least this war, was, finally, truly over.

* * *

Later, Arcann stood in Vaylin’s former chambers, looking up at the picture of, he was told, Alderaan. It was unique, nothing else in the room was anything like it. He wondered what meaning it had for her.

Senya walked up and stood beside him. “You know, Mother, we should take this to my sister. If she ever wakes, I think she would like to have it.”

“Yes, thank you for thinking of her. We’ll make arrangements to at least get a holo, it may be too large for her quarters.”

They stood in silence for several moments.

Senya spoke first. “Are you all right?”

“Perhaps. The rage is less than it was, and I had thought that was enough. I had thought I was in balance, but my balance is precarious. For now, I am well.”

She thought about that. Her poor children. Would nothing be enough to cleanse their father from their lives?

They would talk more of this later, they both needed more time, so instead she asked, “Could you not have told me your plan, my son?”

“I did not have a plan. I did not even know it was possible until I took the throne. Father tuned it to his own blood, but it was not his creation, and it could be reset. I am sorry, truly sorry, that I did not ask your consent, but right then, I did not see another way.”

“I will consider forgiving you.” She paused. “Arcann, didn’t you want the Throne?”

“More than I can say. More than almost anything else. I wish more to atone for what I have done. To see my sister well, not just awake, but truly well, whatever that means for her. To see my brother’s face, one last time, smiling his smile, a mirror of my own yet so different. Those things, I want more than the throne. But, yes, I crave it. I crave that power, that control. Which is why I cannot have it. You are worthy, you are wise, and you do not crave it. So it is yours.”

She smiled. “You may not feel worthy, but I think you are growing wise, Arcann. I hope I do not disappoint you.”

“Never.”

And the Empress and her son stood there for a time, looking at Vaylin’s portrait of Alderaan.

* * *

Night had fallen at Odessan base. Lana and Theron stood on the landing platform, looking out over the wilds far below. Theron, who was always less comfortable with silence than a spymaster should be, spoke first. “Well, that was new.”

Lana looked up at the stars. “I hope she is up to it.”

Theron smirked, replying, “Is ‘bringing down the mood’ in your job description somewhere? Let’s celebrate. I’ll buy.”

Finally, she smiled. “Let’s. I’ll take the days as they come, and, finally, this was a good one.”

They turned and returned to the base.

* * *

Sana-Rae had many reasons for leaving Voss, many events she had foreseen. One of those pivotal moments was soon to come to pass. Soon, the new Empress and her son would be back on Odessan, to formalize the bond between Alliance and Eternal Empire, and to visit Vaylin, still in her coma. She smiled, glad for them, though the way would still be hard.


	7. Eternal Throne Part 4: Still A Threat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The battle for the mind of the former Empress Vaylin continues, as the Sith Emperor continues his attempts to destroy his own daughter and take her power and her body from her.

Vaylin looked up at her sire, sitting on her mental image of the Eternal Throne.

“So, Daughter, you did survive.”

“More than that, ‘Father’. I have reclaimed my power.”

He stood. “I know. It will not be enough.”

He raised his hand, and the air was filled with lightning. She ran and leaped over the rampaging tempest and screamed down at him. It didn’t even muss his hair.

“You see? There is no hope. Let me end this.”

She snorted. “Hope? You think I have hope?” Lightning struck at him, but, again, there was no effect. “That was the second thing you took from me. After my freedom. Before my mind.”

This made no sense. Even if she hadn’t yet breached his protection, he should be reacting. He should not be this strong. Not even him. How?

Too late, she realized what was happening. Lightning struck her, playing across her back. She fell to her knees. He had not been on the Throne. Space meant little here. He had tricked her again. She rose, shakily, to her feet.

He chuckled, infuriatingly. “Took your hope? I did no such thing. You still have it. It makes it easier to hurt you, Daughter. Hope that you can prevail. Hope that your power is in any way a match for my own. Hope that you are free.”

The rage left her face. She looked afraid. “What?”

“I am here in your mind, and you cannot resist my power. Even power you thought you had overcome.”

“No, please, don’t, ” she begged.

“Kneel, Daughter, kneel before the Dragon of Zakuul!”

She staggered, and was driven back to her knees. She cried out in pain, in frustration, but was helpless. The Emperor, her father, stepped up to her.

“You see? Nothing you have done matters. You will be destroyed, and I shall take your place.”

It was then that he noticed she was laughing. “Oh, Father, you really don’t know me at all.”

“What?”

A powerful blast of Force lightning caught him in the chest.. He staggered. “That won’t work. I went into my mind to find the tools to beat you.” She blasted him a second time. Smoke poured from his robes. “Did you really think I hadn’t removed the dregs of your control?” She stood, the image of a world she had never seen in her mind, the image that had freed her. “Fool.” She struck him again, and he flew back. She moved to finish him.

He looked back at her. He repeated what he had said earlier. It was his turn to smile. “My clever daughter.”

“Do not call me that!” She began to unleash her built up power, but he gestured, and suddenly the terrain was plunged into darkness. Before she could adjust to this, to see through this trick of the mind, the ground beneath her feet was gone, and she began to fall.

A hand clasped her wrist in the dark, catching her before she fell too far, and she grasped her rescuer’s wrist in return. Once she was safe, a familiar object was placed in her hand. A voice said in the darkness, “You almost have him. Fight well, Sister. Free yourself.”

“Arcann? How are you here?”

“No, not Arcann.”

She activated the lightsaber, and the beam drove the darkness back enough to see his face. “Thexan?”

He was only there for a moment, smiling at her, and then he was gone.

She looked down at the weapon. Not the one her father gave her when he released her from that place, but her brother’s. She clasped it more firmly.

She heard his voice, out in the darkness. “Sentiment, child? For the echo of your dead brother? You truly are weak. How did I think you might some day be worthy?”

She exerted her will. This was her mind, and it would be as she wished. Her father would not have control, here. The light returned.

She looked up at him.“Not sentiment, ‘Father’. Family.”

“Family is useless. You of all people should know that.”

She looked at the weapon in her hand. “Perhaps, sometimes. I do still hate them both, the ones you let live. Perhaps I always will. But right now? They have finally given me what I need.”

He sounded bored, but he indulged her. “And what is that?”

She turned to face him. “Rage. Rage for them all, not just myself. I have not changed. I refuse to be what they want me to be, even Thexan. But now, I will no longer be what you want me to be, either. I do not know what I will become, but I know this: You will never have my mind.”

“You do not have the power to stop me. I have already shown that.”

“I almost did it before, out in the world, when I only had my hatred. I almost did it here, before your tricks. But it was really your hate, you gave it to me, along with fear, and pain. It gave me power, but it let you control me, every bit as much as the other chains you placed on me. Now, I have claimed that rage and more for myself, and I have Thexan’s gift as well.”

“A lightsaber? Do you really think that will help you against me?”

She smiled. She stood straight and walked forward. Her sire was lying, as he always did. “This is a battle of our minds, ‘Father’. Of our wills. Thexan did not give me his lightsaber. He gave me his clarity. His ability to survive what you did to him. To all of us.”

Valkorian, the Eternal Emperor, the master of the Sith, the devourer of Ziost, flinched in the light of that weapon. He backed away as she stalked toward him.

“I thought so. It was the only gift you never tarnished. You feared Thexan’s clarity, but could not take it, so he died.”

Lightning streamed from her hand. He shielded himself from it, but it pushed him back a step.

“You feared Arcann’s strength, and he was never so strong as with our brother, so you broke their bond.”

She lifted the weapon over her head, bringing it down swiftly, throwing a concussive blast at him, leaving a line of blasted soil behind it. Again, he was pushed back, though unharmed.

“You feared Mother’s devotion, what we would become with her in our lives, and what she would become with us in hers, so you drove her away.”

She lifted an open hand, closed it into a fist. The dirt and rock from that shallow trench leaped into the air, swirling about him with gale force. His barriers begin to buckle.

“And, you feared my power, and how quickly I was mastering it, so you had my power contained and crippled my mind.”

He finally retaliated, blasting his daughter with a massive wave of Force lightning. She simply walked through it, and grinned. Her voice came from behind him.

“You broke us, out of fear. You took what we were, and what we could have been, from us!”

Before he could turn, she had slashed him with the saber. His defenses shattered. He felt pain for the first time since Arcann had struck him, and this was worse, because this was his true self.

“You destroyed me! You destroyed us! Your own family!”

As she shouted, he felt her exertion, but there was no further attack. Then, he saw the growing shadow at his feet.

“Out of fear! You are pathetic, ‘Father’!”

And the Eternal Throne, the image of it, came crashing down, shattering on impact, burying the Emperor.

“You are not worthy of the Throne any more than I am.”

The remains of the Throne exploded outward, and Vaylin was forced to leap away. The Emperor, enraged, demanded, “How are you any different, then, Daughter? You were willing to kill your family, for their imagined slights. How are we not the same?”

That stopped her for a moment, but then she smiled, slowly. “Very well, ‘Father’. Perhaps we are the same.” She paused, and raised Thexan’s lightsaber. Hers, now. The smile disappeared. “If we are, you should be very, very afraid.”

He hesitated, but the arrogance quickly returned. “I do not fear you. A god has no more need of fear than family.”

She laughed at that. “If you were a god, that might be true. Just as, if I were Thexan, I might be merciful.”

Then she lunged, lightning crackling from the blade.

That night, while she did not actually wake, the former Empress of Zakuul smiled, slightly, and her body relaxed. Someone standing very close, with very good ears, might have heard her say, “You always underestimated me.”

Finally, after many weeks, Vaylin slept well.


	8. Dreams and Tears

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Senya and Arcann have returned to Odessan to discuss the new terms of their alliance. They have visited the still-unconscious Vaylin, after which they returned to their rooms to rest. They have the most peaceful sleep either have had in years, when it is disturbed.

Vaylin hadn’t wanted to kill them. Really, she hadn’t even wanted to hurt them. She had wanted to stop them from hurting her. She had wanted to show her power, knowing how proud her parents would be. But as she unleashed that power, she found it exhilarating. She could not stop herself until she heard her mother’s voice.

Then she was locked away. And the cutting never stopped, of her mind, of the others. While they forced her to watch. The pain shooting through her arms, along her back, as she was marked. Eventually, when she thought of that Knight hovering before her, she felt nothing but contempt. Whatever else she might have felt had been ripped from her.

That was what he thought was pain? Fear? She would show the galaxy what pain and fear were. And she would laugh while they ran. And died.

“That does not have to be you.”

She woke, covered in perspiration, tears streaming down her face.

* * *

Senya was running, attempting to escape that place, to free her youngest child. She somehow knew she would fail, but she ran and fought as though there was hope. She cried out as her daughter turned away from her. She felt hands grip her, trying to drag her away, but then they released her. She turned. Her knights were not there. The ship was not there. She felt a hand on her shoulder, and heard a voice telling her that this was not the end, that it would be hard, but now there was a chance, if she would take it. She knew the voice, knew it was impossible. She woke, and she knew.

* * *

Arcann was standing in the throne room, once his, now Mother’s. The room was empty. He gazed upon the throne, but eventually walked away from it, out into the park just outside. It was empty, as well, except for a man sitting on a bench nearby, in the dark. Arcann approached the man, but recoiled when he saw the lightsaber slash across his chest. He collapsed to his hands and knees, begging for forgiveness, but the man, his brother, the other half of himself that he had destroyed, lifted him to his feet, smiling, and embraced him. He responded in kind, hoping this moment would last, knowing it was a dream. And then, his brother was gone, and he woke.

* * *

Vaylin could only move her eyes. She was lying in a long medical bed in an enclosure filled with machines, and restrained. The memories started to come back to her. The battles, with the Outlander, with her father. With her family. She knew that she would need time, months or even years, to recover. But, she was alive, and her mind, at least, was free.

She attempted to reach out with her power, undo the restraints, and found she did not have the strength even for that.

An alarm began to sound. She had to smile, that they feared her so much, as broken and weak as she was. She wondered if she would live through the day, though being alive at all was a comfort. Still, she felt strangely content. She closed her eyes and waited for events she had no control over. She was too spent for anger over it, anyway.

Senya and Arcann could hear the alarm, one that only signaled one thing: Vaylin was finally awake. They wondered who and what they would find. Lana sent some armed guards with them, but agreed they should enter the enclosure before anyone else.

The defenses hadn’t activated. That at least was promising.

The alarm finally stopped, much to Vaylin’s relief. The door opened, and her mother and brother entered, looking concerned. Was it for her, or themselves?

“Are you well, Daughter?”

“Well, I no longer want to break your fingers one joint at a time. At least not as much. Does that count?” Her mother looked horrified. Her brother, disappointed. She sighed. “No one understands my humor. Perhaps it is too soon.” Looking down at her restraints, she said, grimacing at the admission, “I am no threat to anyone. I am too weak, my power is drained. Would you please?”

They both would have felt better if she’d just said she didn’t want to hurt them, but this was probably truer. Her mother hesitated, but Arcann walked to her bedside and undid the straps. “‘Please’, Sister?”

“What, did I not use the word correctly? I know I’m out of practice.” She smiled up at Senya. She could not help herself. “Oh, Mother, don’t you trust me?”

“I do not want you hurt.”

“Not anymore, anyway. Hurt by not being tied down?”

Arcann answered that. “No, by the guards outside. They are very nervous, and angry. You almost collapsed the base. You stabbed the Commander, who still hasn’t recovered.” He stopped himself from mentioning her other crimes. He had enough of his own.

She thought back while they both helped her to sit up, hating herself for being so weak, hating them for seeing it, gritting her teeth for a moment in trying not to let it show too much. She scowled. “Well, it was that or be stabbed. But hopefully we can get passed that some day.”

Senya asked, “Do you mean that?”

Vaylin thought about that. “Well, if we don’t get passed it, the Alliance will probably kill me, so I do mean it.” She looked down at herself, touched her hair. “I hope it was the machinery keeping me and my clothes clean.”

“What happened, Sister?”

“Is this really the time?”

Senya responded, more sternly than she’d intended, “Well, we were going to wait, but you seem enough yourself that we are going to talk now, Daughter.”

Vaylin grinned again at that. “I’m so glad you aren’t disappointed.”

Senya sighed. “We’ll let you rest soon. But we need to know what happened, at the end of the battle.”

Vaylin did not feel like talking, but doubted they would leave without the story. “Well, obviously I hit you too hard. If I had known you would be so fragile, I would have left you conscious as an audience.” They just stared at her. “Fine. You saw the beginning. I stabbed the Outlander, I tossed you aside. I had won, but I grew steadily weaker. I thought I was dying. I probably was. The ritual that ‘freed’ me. The exertion of fighting you all. The wounds you inflicted, thank you.”

She had to remind herself that she had been trying to kill them, too. She sighed and went on. “I’m sorry.” She looked at their expressions. “Oh, that is what you are going to be shocked at? ‘I’m sorry’?” She glared at them again, but went on. “Anyway, they had taken their toll. I was dying and I was going to drag him down with me. He was responsible for it all. Whatever our crimes, whatever hate I have for you both, he was at the heart of it. And I was going to destroy him, if I could.”

Eventually, Senya replied to this tale. “No one will believe you, Vaylin. We had all assumed that the Outlander had done it, somehow defeated Valkorian.”

Vaylin leaned forward, her eyes narrowed, “Of course you did. And I don’t care, Mother. You wanted to know what happened, I told you.”

“Sister, we are just trying to find a way forward.”

“I suppose. I am, too. I woke up, I thought, in some construct in my mind. Like I was, like I am, it was damaged. Broken. And Father was there, too. I still don’t know if it was a dream or not. We fought.”

Arcann said, “We sensed nothing. I hope it was a dream.”

Vaylin grinned again. “Oh, I don’t know, I’d like to think that he died on the platform, but if he didn’t, I got to destroy him twice.”

They both worried about this viciousness, but couldn’t deny that she had a right to it, so they stayed silent.

She hesitated. “I think… I think Thexan was there. He helped me a bit, then stood aside and let me do what needed to be done.”

“Thexan was in your dreams, too?” Senya asked.

“He was in mine, as well, Sister.”

And the three sat and talked about their visions of lost family, which lead to memories, which lead, finally, to melancholy and grief. Grief tied with guilt none of them had ever had the chance to heal from.

Finally, Vaylin had enough. She scowled at them both. “So, he visited all of us. He was kinder to you than I would have been. He was always like that, though, so I guess he may have been real.”

“Sister…” Arcann began.

“No, Son, let her be. Vaylin, can we not be a family for once? Just for now? For Thexan?”

She looked at her mother and brother and did not know how to react to that. Finally, she relented. “For Thexan, then. However he helped, I owe him that”, she replied, and tried to walk over to them, forgetting briefly how weak she was. Her mother caught her. Vaylin rested against her, and allowed Senya to pull her close. She closed her eyes, comforted in spite of herself, sharing the grief they had never been able to before. Senya put her other arm around her son.

She sang to them gently, a song for departed family.

Eyes still closed, Vaylin said, “You know this changes nothing.”

“Yes, Daughter.”

“I still hate you both.”

“Yes, Sister.”

“Good.”

Still, she didn’t pull back for several minutes, and, when she finally did, she turned away to hide her face, leaning on the edge of her bed. “I’m tired, please leave.”

“May we return?” asked Arcann.

“I don’t know. Send word first. Please go.”

“Be well, Sister.”

“Good-bye, Vaylin.”

They left, Arcann walking with his shoulders uncharacteristically slumped, but with a lighter heart than he had had in years. Senya, though still sad, eventually smiled. She would always miss Thexan, but for the first time since her children were very young, she had hope that the three of them might be together, some day, a last gift from her eldest..

Back in her room, Vaylin’s prison and sanctuary, the young woman dried her tears and went to her bed and slept, hoping to see her lost brother again, escaping the chaos of her emotions in dreams.


	9. Healing Wounds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Commander finally wakes, and plans are made.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Commander uses first person as of this point in the story.

I woke, floating in a kolto tank, having no idea how long had passed. Passed since what? Oh, yes, since being impaled for a second time by a member of that family. It was all starting to come back to me. The wound still ached.

She had been right. Valkorion had not healed me this time. I may never fully recover, and it will be a long time if I do. Valkorion, or rather Vitiate, since the monster had never changed, still seemed to be gone from my mind. It was a fair trade.

Had she been right about the rest? She mentioned her father holding my chains. I knew he was manipulating us, but was it deeper than that? Did I listen to him because of some power he had over me in sharing my mind? I really have no idea. They felt like my decisions, but I can not imagine listening to him or doing what he said. That just seems foolish, now. Is that just hindsight, or evidence of his control?

Whichever is true, I have a responsibility to make up for my wrongs, just as I expect the Tiralls to. Somehow.

The medical team releases me. I can barely walk without assistance, but the tank has done what it could. I will need further treatment and special exercises, and possibly some artificial enhancement, but I will live. Good enough.

Lana and Theron come in, smiling, congratulating me. They want to know how I did it, how I finally defeated Valkorion. I tell them, briefly. I really don’t know much. They are shocked. Everyone had assumed that it was my doing, especially Lana. Vaylin had told them, but no one really believed her, except perhaps her family. Now they finally do.

The Alliance has been busy during my convalescence. The Throne is Senya’s, though she usually refuses the title that goes with it. 

Arcann has been working hard on our behalf, though he is carefully watched. The galaxy is rebuilding.

Senya has had teams from the Alliiance trying to examine the Throne and the Gemini droids. They have discovered a few things, but most horrifically, they found out there is a default setting that activates if the Throne becomes unoccupied. The Fleet would simply begin destroying all life it could reach. And I would guess that Vitiate knew this. 

So, if I had succeeded in killing Vaylin, it may have ended life in the galaxy. I feel like a fool.

Senya’s first thought was to simply order the fleet to scrap itself, but Lana talked her out of it. Watching their behavior during their brief time of freedom, I would prefer to free them again, but without Scorpio I don’t know how we would accomplish it. I don’t know that the rest of the Alliance would agree.

Lastly, Vaylin is alive, and awake, and I do not know whether to be more relieved or more worried about that. She is contained for now, and greatly weakened. I need to see for myself. A decision needs to be made about the former Empress. I hope Senya and Arcann can forgive us if the decision is against her.

* * *

Theron had brought the holo during a re-supply trip. He had told her that it was from the Empress. Vaylin thought he said that specifically to annoy her, and she scoffed at it and him. After he had left, with that insufferable smirk, she activated it. It was a holo of a specific location on Alderaan, with the grass waving in a light breeze, the sun actually crossing the sky slowly. A full day’s worth of video, from the look of it. She had sat and watched it for hours.

She hated to admit it, but she would have to thank and apologize to Theron. She might still have to do something about that smirk, though. And thank Mother. Probably Arcann, too, since she suspected it was his idea. It really was lovely.

She brought it out again and watched it that morning, trying to calm herself before the Commander visited. If they acted against her, there was nothing she could do. She needed them to not see her as a threat. It was true, after all. She raised the head of her bed so that she could use it during the meeting..

Eventually, the intercom buzzed, and she gave permission to enter. Very courteous, considering that she was a prisoner under constant surveillance. Still, she supposed she should be grateful for the effort. She had to cover a momentary smile as the Outlander was brought in, limping and clearly still in some pain.

Laughing might not be wise. She waited for the questions.


	10. Interrogation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Commander has somewhat recovered from the grievous wound suffered from Vaylin and has gone with Lana Beniko to her enclosure to make a decision on the former Empress’ fate.

“Hello, Vaylin, how are you feeling?”

She tilted her head, looked me in the eyes. She seemed to disapprove of the question. “Is that really your opening move in my interrogation? You act like you care how I feel, then maybe Beniko there threatens me somehow?”

Lana replied, “I am not going to threaten you. The Commander wants to talk to you for a time, I am simply here to make sure you do nothing untoward.”

“As if I could. Fine. I feel fine. As well as can be expected, anyway.”

I looked at her eyes. I could still feel that same anger in her, controlled at the moment, but still there. Why had her eyes reverted to their natural color?

“Because I am free. Because I am not drawing on the Force solely through rage and fear,” she said.

“What?”

“No one gives me credit for clear thinking. I suppose I deserve that. You were staring at my eyes. I know you can sense my emotions. What else would you be thinking? That they’re pretty? Please. I used to do that kind of thing to my brothers all the time. Before Nathema.”

“Ah. Still, you seem to be better, more controlled than you were. I thought you said you were beyond saving.”

She looked annoyed at that, but did not seem to have the energy to get angry. Probably just as well. “No, _you_ said I was beyond saving. I said I didn’t want to _be_ saved. I never said I wouldn’t save myself.”

“It was a near thing, though, wasn’t it?”

She hesitated at that, but answered, “Yes. I hated you all too much to bear. I wanted you dead, Father dead, my family dead, and your base crushed.” Suddenly, she looked haunted. “And I was in such pain. Alone. Manipulated. Betrayed so many times. I don’t know that I cared how the fight ended.” She shook herself and went on, in her normal tone. “It took the closeness of death to bring me back to myself in time to act.”

“All right. Tell me, did you have to stab me?”

She grinned, though it was slightly less vicious than I remembered. “Yes, I had to stab you. And I enjoyed it thoroughly.”

Lana looked at her, not trusting what she had said. “Is that all?”

Vaylin muttered, “I don’t know why I bother trying to hide anything.” More clearly, she continued with, “Yes, there was some satisfaction, but really I didn’t see another way. Father was protecting you, that’s why you got as close as you did. My powers would not stop you, and I could feel that you were as intent on killing me as I was on killing all of you.”

“That was different. I was trying to protect them.”

She laughed at that. She said, sarcastically, “Did you know that a lightsaber hilt can be quite an effective club?” She rubbed her temple, as if it still hurt. “You should get Mother to teach you how to use one.”

“You were a threat. I thought too great a threat to take alive.”

She dropped her head back on her mattress. “Maybe. And I did kill your Mandalorian.” I flinched at that. Was she trying to make the decision easier? “Tell me, did you even consider it? Ever? Capturing me? Say, when you held my chains?”

There was silence while I thought about my answer. “What would you have done?”

“Oh, I would have hated you for it, but not any more than I hated you for how you did use them. There were other ways to deal with me, though. Take away the Throne, put me on one of any number of unpopulated worlds, give me that slight chance to heal. Keep me unconscious while you looked for a better way. Give my mother some shred of hope. I wouldn’t have cared about that, but you should have. Did it ever occur to you to offer comfort of any sort?”

I wanted to protest, but she was right, so said simply, “No.”

“Did you even consider doing anything but killing me, knowing what you knew about what was done to me?”

I had considered it, but never really believed it was possible, so said, “No.”

“Why would you think I would do otherwise? You were the ‘hero’ in Father’s little drama, and you didn’t.” She paused, breathed deeply, grew calmer. “Anyway, you were protected from the Force, and were planning to kill me. I take some pride in my skills, but you were the better fighter, I think, and I was growing weaker. I had that one moment of surprise to act, and only one way of stopping you. So, yes, I had to stab you.”

“Well, you did not finish me, you destroyed Vitiate, and you prevented the tragedy of an uncontrolled Eternal Fleet. I will call us even.”

She lifted her head, again, and smiled at me. “Even?”

“You are also a war criminal that has killed thousands, yourself. I hold no grudge about our fight, but there were many harmed by your reign, and I have to take them into account, as well. Your recent actions and mitigating factors speak well for you, but you will remain here.” I gestured at the enclosure.I thought I felt a flash of fear, but I either imagined it or it passed quickly. “I am glad to see you are recovering from what was done to you.”

Oddly, she asked, “Tell me, Commander, how were you raised?”

I saw no reason not to answer. “I was raised in the Jedi temple on Coruscant, where I learned tranquility and compassion.” She snorted at that, but I went on. “And how to use the Force to the greatest effect.”

“So, our upbringings were not so different, were they?”

“The Temple was nothing like what was done to you.”

“Wasn’t it?” She began ticking off on her fingers. “Someone with power over you noticed your power. You were taken away from your family at a young age. You were taken to a place you were not allowed to leave. I imagine you had few comforts in that place. And your childhood was taken from you so that you could be what somebody else wanted you to be. They cultivated your power, they pruned mine. You had your passions taken from you, while I was filled with rage and pain, but all for someone else. Never for us. How are you ‘recovering’?” She then turned to Lana. “I imagine she has a similar story, though I doubt she’ll share it.”

Lana spoke up then. “No, I will not. Commander, do you have what you need?”

“I think so. We can be on our way.”

Vaylin protested, “That was it? You came here to chat?”

Lana and I looked at each other, and I shrugged. She said, “No, we came to make a decision. If the decision had been other than what it was, we would have left somewhat later and presented apologies to the Empress.”

Vaylin blinked at that. “Oh. I thought you said you were not going to threaten me?” The girl was actually smiling at that.

“It was not a threat.”

I tried to end the conversation there. “Lana, please.”

Vaylin interrupted, looking at Lana. “I think I could get to like you.” She turned to me, still smiling, but less genuinely. “You, however, are dull as dirt, but since you are probably the one keeping me alive, I will try not to bring that up very often.”

“Thank you?”

“Commander, we have other business.”

We left then. This was not going to be easy, but at least we could give Senya and Arcann moderately good news.

* * *

Back in a cage, Vaylin thought. And “mitigating factors”? Just say “over a decade of torture and brainwashing”.

Once they had gotten far enough away that she didn’t think it would be noticed, she continued probing the enclosure with her senses. She could not do it for very long, and she could not act on what she found, but some day her strength would be greater. Later, she watched Alderaan for a time, and finally slept.


	11. A Brother’s Visit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arcann returns to visit Vaylin in her prison after over a month away. She has a bit of a surprise for him.

Arcann hadn’t been able to visit his sister since the day she first woke. He had been off-world for several weeks, doing what he could to make up for the damage he had done, that his family had done. That was not the whole story, though: the work needed to be done, but he had volunteered because had too many mixed feelings about seeing her, and needed to be far away. He could no longer tolerate this, it was unworthy of the man he hoped to be.

He activated the intercom, and heard her give permission to enter. The machines still surrounded the room. Guards to keep people out, guards to keep her in. They recognized him and the door opened.

She was sitting up on her bed, looking into a small mirror. “Vanity, Sister? That is not like you.”

She continued to look into the mirror. “Is that how you say hello, Arcann?” She finally set the mirror down and looked up, saying, “I’ve always been careful about my appearance, but, no, this is not vanity. I’m just getting used to my eyes.” She looked away. “They were so lovely.”

“Perhaps, but I am glad you have given up your rage.”

He realized his mistake almost immediately, as that same rage that had pushed her troops filled the room. “I haven’t ‘given up’ anything, Brother. I’ve taken something. Control. I guide my life now. Not you. Not Mother. Not the Alliance nor the Empire.” She smiled a self-satisfied smile. “Certainly not Father.” She frowned again. “Mother was right about one thing: I was broken.” Arcann did not know how she had heard that, but he was not surprised, either. “Too broken to repair with Mother’s little Force ritual, or anything any of you could do. Do you remember what she sacrificed for you? If she had tried that for me, even if I had allowed it, it would have killed her. I wouldn’t have been grateful. I expect I would have been pleased.” Her voice and the rage pulsating from her reminded Arcann of why he had once feared her. He refused to do so now. “The rage is part of me and always will be. I just have other choices now.” An unpleasant smile briefly touched her lips. “Well, most of the time.”

The anger flowing from her suddenly dissipated, as if she threw a switch, or simply ran out of energy to fuel it. He could not tell which, or which would be better news.

“I’m sorry we couldn’t help you.”

“Couldn’t? Or wouldn’t? Did you try?” He looked hurt, but she lowered her head to the pillows, put her arm over her face, and sighed wearily. “I’m sorry, Brother. A bit. You said nothing that I hadn’t just said myself. And I am… pleased that you found your way, with Mother’s help. But I don’t know that I will ever forgive either of you. You gave up your rage, or are at least trying to. I cannot give up mine, and don’t really want to. I’ve earned it. Still, I know that it was Father, he hurt us all. I just don’t know if I can let it go. Please leave. You can come back any time, but contact me first. There are times you would not want to visit.”

“Very well, Sister. I am glad to see you are healing. Good bye..”

“Oh, and Arcann?” He began to turn back, when suddenly several of the machines in the room sparked, smoked, and ceased to function. One actually dribbled molten metal. There was an explosion in the distance, towards the nearby lake, strong enough to shake the ground. Every device designed to contain or observe her was destroyed. The ones that protected her or tended to her needs were untouched. “Tell the Commander that I will not be caged. I am here by my choice. If that is not acceptable, the Alliance can let me go, or kill me. Not that I will let them, but I doubt I could stop them, especially now. Still, no more cages.”

She does that, and still claims weakness? He did not feel the rage from before. Her tone was very calm. Again, was that good, or bad?

“No, Sister, no more cages.”

“Thank you.” She smiled. It seemed genuine enough, though it still had an edge. She was trying to reassure him. “I’m sorry I startled you, but I needed to make a point.”

He actually found himself smiling back. “A point well made. I will make sure the Alliance is aware, and, if I am able, return with their response.”

“You smiled. That’s new.” She sounded drowsy, then. “Don’t risk yourself.” She yawned. “Send Mother.” Her smile broadened a bit, and then her breathing slowed, and she was asleep.

He left quietly, thinking that the visit had gone as well as could be expected. He hoped the Alliance would agree. He knew what he would do if he had to choose between it and his sister a third time.

For now, though, he was going to have words with whoever put an explosive in her former cage.


	12. Who Is the Hunter?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Senya and Arcann take issue with the Alliance while Vaylin has trouble of her own.

Dr. Oggurobb was being forced, quite unfairly in his view, to account for his work, but was for the moment focused on more important issues. “How did she know about the explosive, much less how to remove it? The design was ingenious, if I do say so myself.”

Arcann replied, concealing his anger as best he could, “I believe you are missing the point.”

Senya’s voice over the holo was a mix of anger and worry, but also a degree of smugness and pride, as she said, “Everyone always underestimates my daughter.”

Theron was leaning against the far wall, shaking his head. He looked at Lana. “I don’t know why I thought you’d have it removed.”

Lana actually looked exasperated with him as she replied, “Neither do I. It was necessary to keep the base safe.”

Senya broke in, saying, “You will not try anything like this again, of course. My daughter, the daughter of the Empress of Zakuul, is in your custody and care.”

Theron smirked at that. “I thought you hated that title?”

“It has its moments.”

“Of course this won’t happen again. We still need to bring her ultimatum to the Commander and decide what to do about it.”

Senya scowled at that. “Yes. Make sure it is an informed and careful decision. I will be there soon as we discussed.”

Abruptly, she cut communications. Theron said, “Well, that didn’t make me uncomfortable at all.”

* * *

Vaylin sat, floating just above the ground, her eyes closed in concentration. A sphere of small pieces of metal hovered in front of her, twining about, twisting into new shapes. The strain of what she was attempting had caused beads of perspiration to appear on her face. She hated how weak she still was.

Then again, she’d never really done this before. Her brothers had made their own lightsabers, but “Father” had simply given her one. Perhaps it was not her current weakened condition, but the result of never having tried this. She was also using substandard parts, bits and pieces of her sabotaged “home”.

They sounded like excuses, but they were true. They made her feel better.

Suddenly, the parts crumpled and fell to the grass. In frustration, she screamed at her efforts, and the pieces scattered. She dropped to the ground, and flopped onto her back, rubbing her temples.

That loss of control was going to cost her, she knew. She did not have an infinite supply of parts that were suitable, sub-standard though they were. Not that it really mattered, she had no access to crystals, and no one was going to just give her one.

Ah, it’s starting. At least she’d have something to distract her from her failure.

She flipped backwards as the blaster fire hit where she had been and jumped into the trees. She shouted out, “So, assassin, what’s your name?”

A woman’s voice answered, “Why do you want to know my name?”

Vaylin grinned. “Someone needs to remember who you were.”

There was a pause. “Ha, that’s pretty good. I’ll remember that. Kaliyo, Princess.”

“Not a princess anymore. Not for a long time.” Vaylin began circling around her enemy, trying to sense where she was. “I’ve been trying very hard not to kill anyone else, but I don’t think anyone is going to mind if I slip into old habits with someone trying to kill me.”

Kaliyo was simply trying to keep the princess talking so she could get another clear shot. “Why? Do you feel guilty?”

Vaylin stopped, hesitated, but replied, “Of course not. I was the Empress of the Eternal Throne. We do that kind of thing. It’s a matter of self-preservation.”

Kaliyo smiled, whispered to herself, “Gotcha”. She pulled the trigger.

Vaylin had a similar thought, and also smiled. She couldn’t see her enemy, but she could see the blaster bolts. She was able to deflect some of them and dodge some more, but she still got grazed by one. She hoped she had enough kolto in her box.

She reached out her hand and pulled, yanking the tree Kaliyo was in towards her. There was a time she could have uprooted it, but not now. Still, it was enough to send the other woman flying. She spotted the distortion of a stealth field, and caught Kaliyo and pulled her down to the ground. She wanted to see this woman’s face before she... did whatever would happen next.

Kaliyo couldn’t move, couldn’t resist. She’d been told that the former Empress was weak. This was weak?

Another gesture from Vaylin, and the stealth field failed as the device exploded into parts. She looked Kaliyo in the eyes, smiled, and said, “Oh, good, I was right about where that was. I was, we’ll say ‘afraid’, I would pull out something you wouldn’t want removed.”

“They told me you were weak.”

“You should have listened more closely. They probably said ‘weakened’.”

She gestured again, and Kaliyo was flying upward. She missed the tops of the trees, and thought that was good, and then realized that she was above the trees. At least she’d been able to give the princess a surprise.

Vaylin smiled in satisfaction. This would give her time to decide whether or not to catch the assassin. She seemed to remember this Kaliyo was...

Her foot brushed something round and metallic. She looked down and saw the thermal detonator. “Oh, that’s not...” The explosion cut that off that thought.

Kaliyo had brought out her best equipment for this job. Most of it stolen, or otherwise acquired in alternatively legal manners. She had a flight pack she’d tricked off of a Mandalorian, not a lot of fuel for it, but it let her get to the ground safely. Still, she didn’t expect this much resistance. She thought Vaylin was still recovering. At full power, she’d still been brought down. This should have already been over.

Oh, well, she liked a challenge, but it looked like it was over, anyway. The princess had taken a thermal detonator to the face. You don’t just walk away from that.

She contacted her employer. “All right, boss, the job’s probably done.”

A disguised voice replied, “Do you have the body? We need verification.”

“Not yet, but she was standing on a thermal detonator when it went off.”

“Promising, but find her and be sure.”

“Will do.” Paranoid people, but they were paying well, and she’d kind of wanted to take down a member of the royal family, anyway. And this one, at least, no one was going to miss.

Wait, did the people that told had her Vaylin was weak just tell her to make sure standing on an exploding thermal detonator had killed her?.

Suddenly, she was being pelted by rocks and had to cover her face. She thought for a moment that Vaylin must be running low on power when she saw a boulder flying at her as tall as she was. She danced back out of the way, but it was close. Then, she saw Vaylin leaping towards her, her arms back over her head, as though wielding a lightsaber.

It was too late. Everything else was a distraction, she wouldn’t be able to avoid this. “They said you were unarmed!”

Vaylin shouted back, “Don’t believe everything you’re told!” She landed and swung her arms forward. Her hands were empty. She looked down at them, appearing confused, then back at her foe, and grinned. “Oh, look, I am unarmed!” She slammed both hands down and a wave of Force energy knocked Kaliyo off her feet. “Ha! You should have seen the look on your face! I wish I was recording this fight!”

Kaliyo had to admit that was pretty good, but she wasn’t done yet. The princess looked injured, so at least something had gotten through.

The fact that the “something” had been a thermal detonator and Vaylin was still standing was a problem.

Kaliyo rolled over and fired, missiles this time, followed just long enough after by her flamethrower. If she poured on the firepower, even this monster would have to go down eventually..

She saw the missiles coming, and knocked them aside, but was then engulfed in flames. She covered her face with both arms and was able to shield herself just in time, but the heat almost made her pass out.She reached out and pulled water from the nearby lake, dousing the flames and rendering the weapon useless.

And found three small grenades at her feet. “Oh, come on...”

Kaliyo fired her blasters through the explosions, trying to finish off her target. The blaster bolts hit the trees behind where Vaylin had been standing, so she redirected one at the ground and the other upward to where she most likely would have jumped. She heard the impact, and saw something fall from the tree.

It was a thick, broken branch with several blaster scars on it. She’d lost track of the princess. “Oh, that’s not good.”

“No, it isn’t.” Vaylin had sounded playful throughout the fight. She did not sound playful anymore.

She reached out both hands, palms outward, and pulled them apart. Kaliyo’s best gear, that she’d been collecting for years, was so much junk, now, and that junk was spinning off in all directions. Explosives spun into the sky, where they went off harmlessly. She was pretty sure she didn’t have anything left, and did not think hand to hand was going to work out.

Vaylin, on the other hand, was spent. She doubted she could lift more than pebbles, and force lightning or shields were not going to happen. Though she knew how to fight bare-handed, and well, she doubted she could take this woman if it came to that, and if Kaliyo had any more tricks, it was over.

The two women stood still and looked at one another, breathing raggedly, not wanting to make the first move. Eventually, Vaylin smiled. “You don’t have anything left, do you?”

Kaliyo thought uncharacteristic honesty was her best shot. “No. You?”

Vaylin was actually laughing. “Not really. Thank you. That’s the most fun I’ve had in...” Her face clouded for a moment. “Well, let’s just say a very long time.”

Kaliyo blinked. The woman really was crazy. “I’m happy to help, I guess. Maybe we should part ways, now.”

“I’d say so. Next time, bring more. Or just come by for a visit. Either way. Call first if it’s a visit, though.”

Kaliyo thought about the fight and realized that the only reason it was a draw was because Vaylin started off toying with her. Playing. She could have ended it in moments, if she’d acted before she got tired. “They said you were weak. How could they get that so wrong?”

Vaylin smiled her wicked smile at that, but still gave a serious answer. She ticked the possibilities off on her fingers. “Well, maybe they underestimated me. It happens all the time. Maybe you misunderstood, like I said before, though I doubt it. Or, maybe you were never the hunter, and they underestimated you, instead. Let me know if you want help finding out which.”

Vaylin returned to her box, her home in exile. She was going to need some treatment, and actually was going to have to call her mother. She wanted her old robes back. They had some light armor. The hood would have stopped her hair from getting scorched, at least.

Kaliyo walked away, returning to her bike, and drove back to base. Her ears were still ringing. That had not gone well, and she was going to have to tell her employers that. When she got back, she saw that a large number of credits had been transferred into her accounts. It was marked only, “From the Empress of Zakuul, for services rendered”. It was certainly enough to pay for her expenditures, some kolto treatments, and a few nights of fun.

Jorgan walked up, saw her damaged gear and injuries, and asked, “What happened to you?”

She looked up. “I think I made a friend.”


	13. A Mother's Wish

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Discussions are had over recent events, and Senya goes to give word to her daughter about certain decisions.

Senya was, in that moment, every bit the angry Empress of Zakuul. Or, possibly, an enraged mother. Ultimately, the difference was negligible. “She did what?” she shouted at Lana.

“Kaliyo attacked your daughter, who was outside her space, so it did not act to defend her.” She thought about the video, about how Vaylin had appeared to look straight into the satellite camera feed for a moment just before the fight. She’d actually smirked. This family, especially the mother and daughter, were going to drive her mad..

“Why would she ask that I pay that woman for this?”

Theron answered, “We actually think she enjoyed the fight.”

Senya was about to protest that it made no sense, but she knew it wasn’t true. She wasn’t sure if she should be worried at the girl’s recklessness or proud of her fearlessness. Probably both. She finally conceded, “Yes, that sounds like my daughter.”

“What did she say she needed the money for?” asked Theron.

“She just said that Kaliyo helped with her defenses away from her enclosure. I thought you all had that woman under control.”

Theron mused that “control” and “Kaliyo” did not belong in the same sentence. Lana responded, “We’ll talk to her. She no longer appears to be a threat.”

“Expect another extradition request.”

“You know what the response is likely to be. The Commander is much too soft-hearted, I think, but in this case, things did not get too far.” She didn’t mention that the same soft-heartedness had probably saved Senya’s children. “From what we saw, I don’t think Vaylin was in any real danger.”

Senya rubbed her temples. “I know. It’s mostly a formality. This is not filling me with confidence, Lana. We will talk soon.”

She left to meet the Commander.

Lana pulled out her datapad, looking at the day’s work list. Theron watched her, his head cocked to one side, thoughtfully.

Eventually she stopped reading, lifted her head, and said, without looking at him, “Yes, it would have eliminated some problems. Yes, there was a time when I would have arranged it. Yes, I had thought about it. No, I did not do it.”

Theron raised his hands in front of himself, defensively. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. You do understand that we basically just discussed an assassination attempt on the daughter of our most powerful ally, and everyone just agreed to let it go?”

“I know. As usual, practical concerns outweigh what we might consider just. Kaliyo is involved in multiple crucial operations. The former Empress really did appear to enjoy herself, which may give us a way to lessen her threat. We will attempt to track down who hired her. Otherwise, It will have to stand.”

He smirked. “Plus, if this kind of thing were a real problem, personnel would be down twenty percent.”

“That, too. Come on, we have plans to make.”

* * *

Vaylin disengaged the locks and opened the door, expecting either her brother or the Commander (with or without armed support) to be there. It was neither. She scolded herself briefly for not paying attention to her senses, though it could have been worse.

“Mother. Why are you here? Don’t you have more important things to do than visit me?”

Senya flinched at that, but answered, “Arcann said you wanted me to bring the Alliance’s answer to your ultimatum.”

Vaylin replayed the conversation from a few days before in her mind. Her eyes widened for a moment when she realized her mistake. “Oh, Brother, you great idiot, you never did understand my humor.”

“Is anything wrong?”

“No, Mother, it’s fine. Please, sit. These have to be more comfortable than your other chair. I hope you have put down some cushions. I understand they have some lovely ones in the Force Enclave.” They both went and sat down at the small table, Senya sitting stiffly, Vaylin relaxed. “What did they say?”

Senya became very formal, every bit the Knight in an instant. “The Commander is willing to give you latitude as long as you don’t act against the Alliance. You still may not come to the base, unless there is an emergency, but you may remain on-world. It is preferred that you do not leave Odessan, in fact, but you will be allowed to do so. The Commander requests and strongly suggests that if you do, you take an escort.” Senya’s face showed that this was not, in fact, a request. “Many others disagree and feel you should be confined or, and this is not an unpopular opinion, executed. They don’t believe you’ve changed, that you only struck at the Emperor for yourself. However, they are willing to go along with the Commander’s plan and review the decision periodically.”

“Well, they are partly right, and that is kinder than I expected. I think the Commander feels guilty. Or, maybe I was right,” Vaylin mused, thinking back to their first conversation..

“About what?”

“Nothing terribly important, really. And you? What do you feel?”

“As the leader of the Eternal Empire, I think you and your brother should both be confined and tried for war crimes. I expect that the Commander would appoint someone to defend you. Possibly Lana, who views you as an enemy but would do her best, and may understand you, especially, more than most. She would probably argue that there were circumstances that allow for leniency, including the help you both provided in ending the threat of Vitiate. Neither your recent actions nor the harm that was done to you would absolve you, you would still be punished, but you may not have to die. I have requested extradition. I expect the request to be rejected.”

“No, Mother, not what does the Empress feel. What do you feel?”

Senya’s face broke, but only for an instant. “Are you asking that to hurt me?”

A few weeks before, Vaylin would have grinned at that. Now, she just sighed. “Probably. I still want to know.”

“I wish you did already. Very well. I agree with the Commander’s plan, though it is because I love you and think it will keep you safe. I will do what I can for you even if you are the same as you were, though I don’t believe you are. If the extradition were to happen, I would step down as leader of the Empire and stand by you.” Senya became more and more intense as she continued. “I would not be able to keep the throne and be your mother in good conscience, and I know which I will choose, though there will be consequences. If necessary, I will scrap the fleet before abdicating, rather than let it run wild or be misused, and rather than not be with you. I will do everything I can to prevent you from being hurt further, along with your brother. You have committed terrible crimes, and you will have to pay for them, somehow, but it will not be by my hand.”

Vaylin took a moment. She eventually answered, with a light tone, “I suppose it’s good then that the Commander probably won’t send me back.”

Her mother’s tone, though, was still harsh. “Yes, Daughter, it is.”

Vaylin paused, then said, looking away, “I’ll still never be what you want.”

Senya was taken aback. “What do you think I want?”

“You want that little girl, the one you left.”

She finally broke down at that, and reached out to touch her daughter’s face. Vaylin flinched away, and she lowered her hand. “Oh, Vaylin, all I want is for you to be well, whatever that means for you.”

Vaylin stared at her. “You’ll never stop trying, will you?”

The older woman wondered for a moment if that was an accusation, or a plea. She stood up stiffly, preparing to leave, and sounded again like the Empress and Knight she was. “No, Daughter. I despaired once. I abandoned you once. Never again.” She strode out of the room, hearing the doors lock behind her. She paused, motionless, for a moment.

The locks remained engaged.

She went back to her ship and flew to base. She had orders to give back at the Spire.


	14. Clarity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vaylin is having difficulty, but needs to regain control before Arcann arrives for a visit. He arrives with gifts.

She was sitting in her box, her place of exile, thinking of the past. About the last time she’d been happy. A little girl, playing with her brothers. She’d actually forgotten that feeling until Kaliyo’s attack. Now, she wasn’t sure she wanted to remember it, but she couldn’t help herself.

They had been helping her with her forms, before the demonstration in the arena for Father. Thexan had knelt down to be at her level, and smiled as he advised her. Told her how well she was doing.

Arcann had been much more serious, always standing over her. Criticizing. Telling her what she was doing wrong. She hated that. She hated him.

Vaylin shook her head, stood, and left the enclosure. She knew she would not be able to control it much longer, and didn’t want to be inside. She looked around, saw the boulder she had thrown at Kaliyo. She reached out with her power, her anger, and squeezed. Soon, it was rubble. If she’d continued long enough, it would have been powder. The exertion helped her focus.

Arcann had been worried for her. They both had, in their ways. She needed to remember that. She did not want to hurt him, but she knew she would try.

Then, she saw the eyes again, filled with fear. The armor that should have been protecting the Knight being crushed inward by her power. She faced the lake and screamed, sending ripples out across the water, in frustration, in pain.

In guilt? She did not know. Guilt was not something she had felt since being released from her cage. She did not remember what it felt like, and was unsure she ever had. The Knights in the arena were not the worst thing she had seen. But they were the worst thing, at that point, that she’d done. She didn’t even know if any of them had survived. She’d never thought to ask.

She was still in a cage. It was just a slightly bigger one. She was there for her crimes. She was there because they were afraid of her. And they should be.

She was free, she could come and go as she pleased, they were trying to protect her just as much as the people around her. They were trying to help her.

She did not deserve it.

She put her hands to her head. She needed to be calm. She didn’t know if she could. But Arcann was coming. She needed to spend her strength so she could not hurt him. She should have warned him off.

No, he was here. She composed herself as best she could and went to his craft.

“Hello, Brother. How is Mother?” She tried to sound nonchalant. She wasn’t sure she succeeded.

He became wary at that, he knew how inconsistent her attitude towards their mother was, and that she swung from tolerance to hate. She was making progress, he hoped, with him, but kept slipping with Senya. He eventually answered. “She is well, Vaylin. Her responsibilities keep her away, but she would like to visit. Could you tell her when?”

She did not hear him. Her control was slipping, and she did not want him to see it. “Come inside, let’s get this visit over with.”

He followed her in. She was upset, but he did not know how to comfort her, or even if he should. He would simply have to be there for her if she wanted him to be.

“I have brought your High Justice uniform, with the adjustments you requested.”

“Oh, yes, thank you Brother, please put it on the table.” She looked down at it, felt it between her fingers. “I will miss the trim, but it is no longer appropriate.”

“It will give you some protection. Mother also wanted you to have this. And, after hearing about certain events, the Commander agreed.” He pulled out a lightsaber, and offered it to her.

She reached out, but then lowered her hand. She wanted to lash out at him. She had no reason to. “I don’t think I’m ready, Brother. I might have killed my new friend if I’d had that. Would have killed her. I should not be armed. I need more practice. I am trying.”

New friend? Surely not Kaliyo?

He looked at her, worried about what would happen if she remained unarmed, worried about what would happen if she were armed. He decided to take her counsel, she knew herself best. “Very well, Sister. I can remove the crystal, we can keep it for you. However, you should still have it.”

She turned back, beginning to ask why, and looked down at the weapon cradled in his hands.

It was Thexan’s.

She reached down and touched it gently. She remembered. Her clarity in physical form. His final gift.

“Thank you, Brother.” She was not crying, but she was holding back tears. She knew that it made no sense, but it simply meant so much to have it, even declawed. She wasn’t sure what was more important, that she would have Thexan’s weapon, or that Arcann had offered it to her. “And thank Mother for me.” She scowled. “And, I suppose, the commander.”

“Of course, Vaylin.”

“How did you know?”

“We did not know. Mother suspected, sensed that it would be important to you. I am glad to see she was correct. And, we worry about you out here, alone.”

She frowned. “If I had anyplace else to go, you know I would.” She felt the anger rising again, and struggled to control it. “They have to tell me some time why they accepted you.”

If he noticed her anger, he did not show it. He had removed the crystal and placed it in a pouch. “I wonder that as well. They seem to think I am more greatly changed than I am. Sometimes, I am grateful for that, but my crimes are greater than yours, my rage burned whole worlds. I should be in a box on the other side of the lake. Or dead.”

She flinched at that. Sometimes, she still wanted him dead, too, along with Mother. Along with most of the Alliance. And she was no innocent in those worlds’ destruction. She’d appoved. She’d taken holos. She felt that should bother her more. “Is this supposed to help my mood?” she asked sarcastically.

“No, sister, it is not. Tell me, would you ask me to stay here?”

“Would you stay?”

“Yes. I will give up my responsibilities to stay here, to help you heal.” He considered that. “To help us heal, just as Mother would. We are family. Is that what you want?”

She looked into his eyes, gauging how much he meant it. Eventually, she looked down. “No, I suppose not. But I do thank you for visiting.” She looked up and grinned, though she did not feel it. “I sometimes even mean it.”

“Sister...”

“You’ve never understood my humor.”

He didn’t smile, but the corners of his mouth did twitch. “No. And I never will.”

She let out a quick laugh, and felt the anger ease. It was as much there as ever, but she thought she would make it through the rest of the day without losing control. The guilt, if that’s what it was, she would find a way to cope with later. “Thank you. The next time you are here, let me introduce you to my pets.”

“Pets?”

She smiled, with some warmth this time. “Let it be a surprise.”


	15. Lessons Part 1: Always Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vaylin has been hearing a call from the wilderness, but is now on the run from a pack of local predators.

She ran, the beasts chasing after her. As they caught up, brief bursts of her Force powers propelled her forward, just out of their reach. She had run many miles, as fast as she could push herself, and she was finally running out of strength. It would be over soon.

Finally, she could run no more and fell to the ground. The beasts surrounded her. Their pack leader walked forward and licked her face.

She sat up and pushed her friend away. “Ugh, your breath stinks.” The beast actually looked down. Vaylin would swear that she was embarrassed, or apologetic. She scratched the creature’s, she believed, nose. “It’s all right, girl. I still like you. Well, as much as I like anyone.” The creature preened. “Thank you for the run, I think I’ll walk the rest of the way. You can go back to your hunting ground.”

She could not determine if they’d learned to understand her, or if this was some use of her Force powers. She liked to think she wasn’t controlling them, even if she did think of them as pets.

They were just droids. The thought was not welcome.

She was wearing the light armor she had been given, the modified High Justice robes. She’d brought her two lightsaber hilts. Well, one hilt and one crude tube she had constructed from the bits and pieces she could find. She wanted to master that craft, but the fine control still eluded her. Neither were functional without the crystals, regardless.

It was only a few more miles to where she was being called. She was unsure if she had been observed leaving her small prison, home, whatever it was to her now. Her senses didn’t work as well if there was no living creature watching, so if the observer was automated, she might not notice.

She so loved to disturb Beniko with that “look through the camera”’ trick. She probably didn’t realize it, but she was easier to sense than most, perhaps because she was so powerful, or maybe because she and Vaylin shared some traits in common. It brought her comfort to drive Beniko to distraction. Well, as much as anything could, anyway.

Still, no one had come to check on her. They either hadn’t noticed, or thought it was safe enough. Whether it was safe for her or them, she wasn’t sure. She doubted the Empress would tolerate another overt attack, though.

She had been hearing the voice for several days, seeing visions of this place. Mountains. Water. A cave that felt familiar, that she had never seen except, perhaps, in a dream.

Death. She did not feel like she was in danger, exactly, but her death was all around this place.

A deep voice intoned, “So, child, you have finally come.”

She wasn’t sure how’d she’d missed him. The presence was powerful, but also seemed distant. She turned to face the source, a man she’d seen before.

He was tall, covered in red armor, his face hidden. She asked, “I know you. Didn’t Father kill you?”

“Yes. I refused to bend knee, and my former Emperor destroyed me.”

She thought. It had been some time ago. “Marr, wasn’t it? Darth Marr?”

“I am glad to see I am remembered.”

She scowled. She was a bit tired, and that always put her in a mood. “Just barely. I don’t take well to being summoned, especially when it disturbs my sleep. Why have you brought me here?”

“I do not know, precisely. It is your need that brought me, and it chose the location of our meeting.”

“I brought you?” She thought back. “Is that why Thexan was there? In my mind?”

“Thexan. That was your brother? The one struck down by his twin?”

“Yes.” She could feel the anger, trying to break free of her control at the mention of Thexan’s death, but she held it in check. Barely.

“I can feel your hatred. It will not serve you in this place, or against me.”

She gritted her teeth. “I am aware of that. Please get on with it.”

“Thexan came to you. I assume he helped you in some way. This kind of power is uncommon, but not unheard of. Some Inquisitors practice something similar.”

“So Thexan was really there?” Even after the meeting with her mother and brother, and after the gift of Thexan’s weapon, she hadn’t been sure she believed it. “I didn’t save myself? Thexan saved me?” She hated the fact that she wasn’t sure which was more important to her, that he had been there, or that he had been the one to save her.

“The Force is driven by emotion. Rage. Peace. Need. Your rage took you far, but in your need you reached out and your brother came to you. Whatever aid he gave you, it was your power he served, as befits an empress. He aided you, but you saved yourself.”

She looked away at that. She imagined her brother in her cage on Nathema. “Did I force him to come?”

“No, child. Perhaps one day that will be within your ability, but not then, and not now. No, he came to you willingly, because of his love, as I come to you willingly, because of my duty.”

She touched his lightsaber hilt on her hip. “Good.” She looked back up, sneering. “And I am not a child.”

His response was more amused than she liked. “No, of course not, ‘Empress’.”

“Oh, don’t use that tone with me. I know it too well. And I’m not the empress, either.” She sighed, hating what she was about to say. “But, I suppose I should thank you for your offer, and accept your help.”

“Very well. We shall begin in the cave.”


	16. Lessons Part 2: Rage and Fear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arcann has much to think on, and a recent mission gone wrong will force him to confront his greatest fear.

He had thought it was gone, at first. He knew better now. The rage was still with him. It was less than it was, but it was still there, still powerful. He had contained it for a time with love and fear and guilt, without even thinking of it. But, that was a precarious balance, and could be overturned in a moment.

Those Knights should not have died. At least, not so many of them. It was battle, yes, and they were skilled, but he and Mother had them outmatched. They would have been able to end it with injuries, possibly even maiming, but few deaths. When Arcann had felt his mother’s pain, the murderous hatred returned, and he had barely been able to stop it again.

He had killed, would have killed more, for what proved to be a minor injury, if his mother had not recalled him to sanity.

Vaylin had said it. She said that she had earned her rage. Arcann could not accept that he had a right to his, whatever he had suffered. He knew that the things his father had done to him, to all of them, deserved his anger, but he feared it. He feared the rage that killed his brother, that burned worlds. None of them deserved his rage. He feared that if he went that way again, he would never return.

His family had their own, of course. Senya channeled her anger into resolve and duty, as she had even before meeting Valkorion. Since finding herself, Vaylin channeled hers into everything she did, into passion and wildness that Arcann could not match. He needed to find his own way.

Mandalore the Avenger called him to step forward. He had been entrusted with her troops, it had been his responsibility to keep them safe from the influence of a woman who had wielded fear, similar to what he was told were the powers of the Dread Masters. She had escaped after pitting them against one another. A third of their forces had died before he could deflect her power.

He bowed his head, and said to her, “I have failed. I cannot lead your people, they do not trust me, and to defend their minds I needed to win that trust.”

Mandalore responded, “Of course they do not trust you, and you cannot lead them. But the fault is mine. I should have seen this before agreeing to this effort. Mandalorians only follow those they respect, and you? We will burn worlds for honor, but you burned them out of pettiness. We would have gladly fought and perhaps fallen to your Knights, you instead sent us hordes of droids. You stayed hidden in your tower of metal and glass, and even when you emerged, you only fought the Commander. You have proven time and again that you have no honor, and we will not follow you.”

“How may I prove myself, then?”

“Over time, if you fight alongside us, perhaps we would eventually accept you.”

“I do not believe we can wait.”

“I agree, and there is another way. Faster, but more dangerous. Tell me, what is your greatest fear?”

Arcann was shocked by how quickly that question brought a single image to mind. “Nathema.”

“And why do you fear it?”

He hesitated for a moment, but eventually decided only the truth would serve. “The man I am only exists because of a Force ritual that controlled my rage. If I return to Nathema, the ritual’s effects would be broken, and I would become the false Emperor again. I could not bear it.”

She smiled, coldly. “Then, you must return there. When you are ready, we will take you, and leave you there for a time. If you can overcome your fear and control your rage, my people will follow you. If not, they shall meet you in combat and will either die gloriously or be able to boast that they slew the former Emperor.”

He looked at her in disbelief. It was madness. It was a terrible risk for no real gain. No gain but honor. He sighed.

“I am not ready for your trial. I will return when I am.” He turned and left the hall, pained by the laughter that followed him out.


	17. Lessons Part 3: Fate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Senya hates being called Empress, but has been called by that name to a meeting place with some old allies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Empress Senya](https://swtorramblings.tumblr.com/post/172907756665/fate-art-by-fleeting-sanity-posting-to-use-in)

She was at the meeting place. She did not know what this was about, but the Scions could no longer be ignored. Senya knew very well how dangerous they could be when slighted, and as Empress could not discount how useful they were if acknowledged.

And, because the were Scions, the game began.

A woman stepped from behind a pillar, activated her lightsaber, and circled Senya. “Good, you are here, Empress.”

“Do not call me that.”

Another Scion, a man, stepped out and said, “You deny it, but it is the truth of who you are.” He drew and activated his lightsaber, as well.

Another woman revealed herself. “Scyva was meant to take the throne since Nahut broke Fate.” A third beam of red light.

Senya considered that Scyva was obviously her, but asked, “Nahut? Do you mean Vaylin?”

A fourth Scion, another man, stepped forth, lightsaber already activated. “Yes, hated by Fate and all who beheld her, doomed by her father to die.”

Senya now noticed that they spoke in turn, in the same order they had first spoken, starting with the woman that first revealed herself. “Only, she fought back against Fate, and somehow, it was Fate that fell.”

“We do not understand, but now the threads are in disarray.”

Senya’s grip tightened on her lightsaber pike, but she still left it deactivated. “What are you expecting? That I will kill my own daughter to restore what you think should happen?” She had thought then that she could do it if she had to, and she might have had things gone differently. Now, though, she could not even consider it. She no longer had it in her.

“No, Senya, it is too late for that.”

“The sacrifice will now be yours.”

“The ritual is prepared and we shall soon begin.”

“If only you had joined the Scions rather than the Knights, this might be easier.”

“Perhaps not, though.”

“The Knights would not have known what was needed.”

Senya frowned and replied, “The Scions play their parts rather than live their lives. For all my mistakes, for all the tragedy of my life, I would not give up the joy.” She lifted the pike, and finally activated it, knowing how this would end.

“We understand.”

“Thank you, Empress.”

“For your sacrifice, thank you, Senya.”

“We begin.”

They charged forward and slashed at where she had been, but she had already leaped from their circle. “What ritual? What sacrifice?” she shouted.

They did not respond. One came at her, saber lashing out, while the other three took their preordained positions. Scions always fought as one, never impeding one another, because they always knew where they were meant to be. The question in fighting them was, were they fighting because they were meant to win, or because they were meant to lose?

She deflected the blow and slashed back, but he parried. She felt rather than saw one of the others throw her saber, and had to crouch under it.

A third came at her, flying over her allies, saber swung back in preparation for a powerful downward swing. For a moment, the woman reminded Senya of Vaylin, rushing to attack, before Arcann pushed her away. Then, instinctively, she struck upward, impaling her attacker. The Scion cried out, hunched over the blow, her lightsaber slipping from her fingers and flickering out. She locked eyes with Senya for a moment, whispered, “Empress.” She then gripped the pike with surprising strength, before falling back, pulling the weapon from Senya’s grasp.

Senya turned to the other three, and so did not notice that as the woman died, a mist formed above her.

The first to fall had also been the first to speak, Senya realized. Of course she had. The Scions loved nothing more than useless symmetry.

Her remaining foes lunged towards her, but Senya slammed her fists into the floor, sending out a shockwave that knocked them away. She was on one of them before he could recover. Not the second one to speak. She would have to kill them all, Scions did not start fights without committing themselves completely to their fates, but she would at least deny them that satisfaction.

She pinned his sword arm to the floor with her Force powers and landed on his chest knees first, cracking ribs. She then simply punched him with her armored fist, breaking his nose. While he was coughing blood, she took up his weapon and prepared to finish him.

She sensed one of them behind her a fraction of a second before he struck. She spun and slashed him across the chest. He stared at her, open-mouthed, for a moment, and said, “Thank you.” He then sagged to his knees before, finally, falling to the floor. At least his death had been quick, unlike the first one that spoke.

Of course, he had been the second to speak.

The third struck while Senya was distracted by her thoughts, and almost landed a blow. She realized after a moment that she had known where the blow would land before her foe had swung. She turned and the battle resumed, with only the two of them left.

This Scion was not like the others. They were all skilled, to some extent, but this one had Knight training, and was almost Senya’s match. She thought she might know the woman, but it no longer mattered. As good as the Scion was, Senya was better. While she was unable to land a single killing blow, she inflicted several lesser injuries until, finally, her opponent was overcome, and fell to her knees, then to her side.

The Scion, dying, gasped out, “I am sorry, Senya, I could not stop it, it had to be.” She then rolled onto her back, and exhaled, and died.

Finally, Senya noticed the mist rise from this Scion’s body, as it must have from the first two. It was their knowledge, their experience. Perhaps some part of their spirits. It was within her, now.

The last one had risen to his knees, painfully, holding his damaged ribs. He was not resisting. “We are all sorry, Empress, but you need to be more, Knight and Scion both.”

She looked down at him, sadly. “And now, you must die, also.”

“Yes.”

“For destiny!” she spat at him, angry at their manipulations, angry at what she knew she was going to do.

“Yes. And because the ritual is not complete, and will destroy you if you do not finish it. The three already with you will drive you mad otherwise. Truly, we are sorry.”

She realized that she wasn’t listening just to the still living Scion, but that the others were speaking to her from within as well. She raised her lightsaber. “As am I.” She brought it down, and he fell, the mist escaping him as it had the others.

The voices stilled. The ritual was complete, and they were a part of her now. She could see the result: though she was still herself, their knowledge and training were a part of her, as though it had always been there. She could accept destiny, unlike the Knights, or reject it, unlike the Scions.

As an Empress should.

She looked at the lightsaber in her hand, deactivated it, and cracked it open, removing the crystal within. She did the same with her pike. Neither weapon would serve, she knew she would need a new one. She would have the Scions given proper funerals, with honors, for their dedication to Zakuul. For now, however, she had other tasks to accomplish. Her son would need her, and soon.


	18. Lessons Part 4: The Cave

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vaylin and Darth Marr continue her training in the ways of the Sith, with him cautioning her about following only that path. But the past beckons, and there are other tasks that must also be accomplished..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Into the Light](https://swtorramblings.tumblr.com/post/172909484760/the-cave-art-by-fleeting-sanity-posted-for-link)

Marr’s spirit had faded from view, but Vaylin could still feel his presence, follow his direction. They were at the opening to the cave he had lead her to. He had been coaxing her to release her rage, to focus it, direct it, not simply splash it about but take greater control. It was weaker this way, but also did not waste so much of her energy.

He had instructed her to rest after training through the night. It was nearly dawn, and he was reciting the Sith code for her to memorize..

“...Through victory, my chains are broken. The Force shall set me free.”

She couldn’t help but smile at that. What she had seen of the Sith, their philosophy wasn’t perfect, but this snippet she planned to take to heart.

She was a bit surprised that Marr seemed to agree. “There are other ways of approaching your power, and you may learn them in time from other teachers, and I believe you should. My lessons were more urgent. Even now, you have so much rage, the Jedi ways, their control and dispassion, would be useless to you. You must learn to better channel your passions, but there are dangers to the Sith ways, as well. Remember this.”

She thought back to Marr refusing to kneel before her father. Perhaps his passions had betrayed him that day.

Again, she felt the chill of death. Her own. It felt familiar. She looked into the cave, trying not to show her sudden fear. “What is this place?”

“Odessan is a world of the Force in balance, much as your world is. This is one of many places that concentrates that power, where supplicants can commune with the Force if they wish. Visions are easy to come by, here.”

“Oh. I hate visions.”

“Nevertheless, your path requires them.”

“Marvelous.” Then she saw it, a figure in the dark, at the back of the cave. Without thinking about it, she entered and walked toward it. She felt the figure’s rage, and pain, and even fear. Perhaps sadness, as well, but drowned out by the other passions. She knew who it was, and why this all seemed familiar. It was herself, as she had been then. A woman with no choice but to act as her father had made her to be, an animal, he’d said.

“I am not an animal. ‘Father’,” she muttered aloud.

This had been the Outlander’s test, to confront her, to fight against some portion of her power. Vaylin had seen it in the dream, gained insight by absorbing a bit of this very event, that piece of her spirit. Now, it was replaying for her.

“I don’t understand, what was the point of this?”

Marr actually hesitated. “The Outlander needed to be shown that behind your brother, there were other adversaries to be fought.” He sounded unsure.

“What is this nonsense? I’ve seen the Commander’s history. This had to already be known. The list of opponents and hardships is already rather long, isn’t it?” She knew that she should not talk to him that way, he was trying to help her. Seeing herself here, feeling what she used to feel, was putting her on edge.

She feared she would become this other her again. She knew, this time, she would die if she did.

The other her, who had been standing with her back turned, suddenly spoke. “Tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock.” The High Justice turned to face Vaylin, clenching her fists, with yellow eyes looking into her now blue ones. “Do you believe in the future?”

“What?”

“It is a simple question: do you believe in the future?”

Vaylin considered. “Do you mean Fate?” The image smiled, that vicious smile Vaylin sometimes still showed, but said nothing. It was infuriating, but she forced herself to remain calm. Her hands sparked a bit. “Very well. I do not believe in Fate. I believe the future to be fluid, able to be changed, but if it is, we must then take responsibility for it.”

The High Justice walked forward, and then that fear and pain seemed to suddenly drain away. The woman before her was more like a mirror of herself, still angry, often unfocused, but changing. The vision stepped up close and whispered, “Thank you.”

Vaylin, confused, asked, “For what?”

“Choice.” The vision glowed for a moment, and was gone.

Vaylin looked at where her other self had been, and said, “Scyva’s tears, I hate visions.”

She heard Marr’s voice again. “I believe I understand. This was never a test for the Commander, but some form of lesson or message for you. The Outlander, or perhaps your father, was necessary to create this, but she waited to give you the Force’s council, should you live.”

“Well, that was very close to be a wasted effort. What did it mean, do you think?”

“It was your message. What do you think?”

She smiled slightly. “Perhaps simply that I am free.”

“I agree. This does not mean your trials are over. You may even become her again. If you do, though, it will be your choice.”

She heard it, then. Something else in the cave was calling for her. A song like none she had ever heard. “What is that?”

“I do not know Describe it.”

“It is beautiful, a music, hanging in the air, calling me to it.”

“What do you wish to do?”

“Go to it, find the source.”

“All Force users must learn to trust their instincts. If that is what you feel…” He stopped, then, and smiled unseen. She was already stepping forward. This was not a lesson she needed.

She reached the back of the cave, behind where the other her had originally been standing. There, in the wall, was a golden glow. Crystals embedded in the rock. She could feel more, but they were not for her, only these two, near the surface. She was nearing exhaustion after a night of training, after the strain of confronting what she had been. Still, she gave her last energy to retrieving the crystals she knew were meant for her.

“Interesting, “ she heard Marr said. “That is how the Jedi acquire their lightsaber crystals, I am told. You have learned many lessons today.”

She took the crystals and placed them, first in Thexan’s lightsaber, then in the crude one she had made. She could still hear the song. It was beautiful, accepting, comforting. It was like…

Her mind flashed to a vision of her mother, singing her to sleep.

She frowned, bracing herself for the feelings of hurt and betrayal she knew would spoil this moment. They never came.

Smiling, truly happy, she activated her two sabers. The blades were beautiful. Knowing without Marr needing to tell her that her lessons were over for now, she stepped from the cave into the sunlight.


	19. Helplessness Part 1: Not What I Was

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Commander is still mending, and feeling the effects of the last several years. Senya calls to make a request or two.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usual, the Commander speaks in first person and is unspecified, other than being a Jedi in a relationship with Lana.

Vaylin was walking back to her home, the box in the wilderness, still many hours away. It would give her time to think. She was buoyed for a time by her experience in the cave, by the singing of the crystals she had come away with.

She looked around then and realized she was not making progress. She felt something pressing against her knees, and looked down to see what it was. It was the ground.

Why was she on her knees? Oh. Maybe running all the way here and training all night had something to do with it.

She felt something pressing against the side of her face.

* * *

I have been conscious for several months, but I am still not well. Even after so long in the kolto, I have needed multiple surgeries, had machines implanted in my chest to replace muscle and organ function damaged first by Vaylin’s lightsaber, then by the poisons spilled from a damaged kidney.

I can walk with little pain, but I am not the same. I was at one time one of the greatest warriors in the galaxy, now I cannot last more than ten minutes in training without needing rest.

At times, I cannot bring myself to leave my bed. The injury, combined with my lapses of judgement in the last year, leave me overwhelmed. 

I do wonder why they still look to me for leadership. I have not led the Alliance well. Most of the work is done by others, by Lana or Theron. I cannot lead them into battle any longer. I allowed us to be tricked by SCORPIO, manipulated by the Emperor, and it was a near disaster. 

I imagine for what must be the thousandth time what a rampaging Eternal Fleet would have done. I was either stupid or weak or scared, or all three. We should never have come so close to such a calamity.

I tried to talk of stepping down with Lana once. She would not hear of it. She still has such faith in me. I have no idea why. It helps, but sometimes I do not think I deserve her. Sometimes I do not think I deserve anything. But I press on as best I can.

And as if I’d called out to her, Lana breaks my maudlin thoughts. “Commander, Senya would like to speak with you. Should I put her through?”

The distraction will help. “Yes, Lana, thank you.”

She looks concerned. “I will be by shortly, I have nothing urgent happening and it sounds like you could use the company.”

I do not argue. She is not wrong. She rarely is. “Thank you.”

“Of course. Putting through Senya now. I will see you soon.”

Lana’s image is replaced by the Empress’s. “Commander.”

“Senya. How can we help you?”

“First, if she is available, I’d like Sana-Rae to visit me on Odessan. I would like to discuss some opportunities with her in private.”

“I’ll ask if she is available. May I ask why?”

“It isn’t a secret, really, but I’d prefer her to talk to you about it herself. Give you her impressions.”

“All right, I trust that it will all go well. Is there anything else? It isn’t like you to not use regular channels for a request like that.”

“Yes, there is something. I believe my daughter needs assistance out in the Odessan wilderness.”

That surprised me. “Why? There isn’t anything here that would be much of a threat to her.”

“Not normally, no, but I think she has exhausted her power. I would appreciate it if you would ask Koth to retrieve her and take her home.”

“Koth? Are you sure?”

“Yes, Commander. But please make it clear that it is a request, not a command. He can decline, but if he does this, I will owe him a favor.”

Well, she had to have her reasons. “All right, if you think it is best. I will relay your wishes.”

“Thank you. I will be in contact soon.”

She cut contact before I could say anything else. At that moment, Lana opened the door. Without knocking, as usual these days, she always knew what my answer would be ahead of time, and usually respected it.

I sent a quick word to Koth. Lana had brought wine and a small meal, I did not want to leave her waiting.


	20. Helplessness Part 2: Slumber

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vaylin has collapsed in the Odessan wilderness, and the least likely candidate to bring her home has found her at her mother’s request.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Koth Considering](https://swtorramblings.tumblr.com/post/172910199075/slumber-koth-by-fleeting-sanity-posted-for-link)

At first, Koth had responded as anyone who knew him might expect, with, “Hell, no!” But, he had to admit, Senya owing him a favor was appealing. And, if it turned out she did not owe him a favor, maybe that would be all right, too.

He flew out to the area and began his search pattern. If nothing had eaten her, dead or alive, it shouldn’t take more than a few hours, and most of the work could be done automatically. It was a bit after midday when the sensors picked her up.

As he took over flying the craft, he saw an adult acklay standing nearby, sniffing at her. Maybe he wouldn’t have to do anything. He couldn’t be blamed if a monster ate the monster. Then, the creature sniffed her again, looked up to where Koth was setting down, and walked off. Koth could swear that it was basically telling him, “My work is done, she’s all yours.”

Of course the massive predator liked her.

He reached her side and very carefully checked her vital signs. He had been assured she wouldn’t harm him, but for one thing, he didn’t believe it. He hadn’t seen anything that convinced him she had changed from the murderer she had been. Two, even if she had changed she might lash out if he startled her. Either way, it would not go well for him.

She seemed to be just deeply asleep. Breathing and heart beat were regular. She occasionally snorted or mumbled something inaudible. Vaylin was completely at his mercy.

He let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. He looked at the blaster rifle in his hands, that he’d taken down to chase off the local wildlife. That he couldn’t deny he had thought to use for another purpose. Why should he deny it? She deserved it. He slung it on his back. He could have let her die, maybe, payment for everyone she had killed. Revenge for Torian, who had been a good man. He could kill her if she was an immediate threat. He could not kill her like this, and now that he was here, he couldn’t even bring himself to leave her.

After he had, very carefully, settled her into a cot in the back of the ship, he fixed himself dinner. The search had taken several hours, and between that and the stress of having to look for his Emperor’s lunatic daughter he was famished. He also downed a gulp or two of light ale. He was very much on edge, but he needed to be able to stay focused, too.

He had found a pair of lightsabers on her belt, which he relieved her of. The couldn’t work, could they? Surely no one would arm her? He locked them up, just in case.

He sat and stared at her, the former tyrant. The mass murderer. It would be impossible to tell her crimes looking at her right now, but he knew. Knew very well. The entire family was treated too kindly. Even Senya should have been locked up after flying off with the Prince. Her children should both be dead. At least Vaylin was watched closely, her brother had somehow become a trusted member of the Alliance.

He realized that the sun was getting low and he hadn’t reported in. He turned to the control console and prepared to make contact. He looked back briefly, and realized that Vaylin was looking at him.

He couldn’t help himself. He jumped back in a moment of panic and drew his blaster pistol, pointing it at her. She sat up, but she made no move to defend herself. She didn’t even reach for where her weapons had been. She just continued to look at him with those cold blue eyes.

Not that she needed a lightsaber to kill him. He re-holstered his blaster. He took it as a good sign that neither of them was dead.

“You’re pretty sure of yourself, Princess.”

She blinked at him sleepily. “No, I’m not. But if you were going to hurt me, I couldn’t stop you. I was rash. Again. I used myself up and I’m too tired to fight. But I’m told you’re a good man. Thinks too highly of my father, but a good man.”

“After what you’ve done, why wouldn’t a good man finish you while he had a chance?”

“How would I know? I’ve never claimed to be either.”

He stared at her. Was she really so weak? And how could she be so flippant? “Do you even feel anything about what you’ve done? The lives you destroyed?”

She smirked up at him. He had walked over to her. His hand was back on his blaster. “Not a bit. I replay the screams of everyone I’ve ever killed and it comforts me. Is that what you want to hear?”

He shouted down at her, “Why would I want to hear that?”

That smirk was gone. She glared at him and shouted back, sounding again like the mad tyrant. “Because it makes you feel better! Justified! Righteous!” She looked away, her voice lowered. “As if you needed more reason.”

Koth gritted his teeth. “You sound like you want me to kill you. Why are you goading me?”

“I’m broken. Haven’t you heard? I sometimes want to hurt people. I sometimes want to be hurt. That was made part of me. Sometimes, I even try to not be what they made me. I usually fail.”

“What are you talking about?”

She smiled again, slightly. “You really don’t know? Oh, what you must think of me.”

“I think you’re a monster.”

“I am. Very much. Right now declawed, but still dangerous. I’m thinking right now of what I might do to you if I were stronger. And hoping I wouldn’t, but I don’t really feel guilty about it. How can I be anything but a monster? Before I collapsed, I actually felt happy. How can anyone but a monster feel happy, even for a moment, after what I’ve done? Arcann never feels happy, maybe content every now and then, but then even that’s gone. Mother rarely feels happy, and she deserves it more than either of us. She was weak, but she tried. I hate her for it, but she tried.

“So, kill me, because I deserve it, or take me home.”

He backed away. He wanted to ask what had made her this way, but this wasn’t the time. He would find out later. Instead, he asked, “And you don’t feel guilty about any of it?”

“No. Why?”

“What was all that, then?”

She could not answer for a moment. “You really are a good man, aren’t you? Thank you, Koth.”

“It’s the least I can do. This isn’t over. But, for now, I’ll take you home. At least Senya will owe me a favor.”

“What? Mother sent you?”

“Yeah, that’s what the Commander said.”

“What did I ever do to her? Well, lately?”

He wasn’t getting involved in that, so he turned away and prepared the ship for take off.

She spoke behind him. “You called her Senya?”

“What? It’s still her name, isn’t it?” He turned for a moment and looked at her. She was grinning up at him, a look he had never seen on her, a look of genuine amusement. Like she was bursting to tell him a great joke.

“She is your Empress, you know.”

“I will never call her that.”

“She hates it.”

“What?”

“Being called Empress. She haaates it.”

He thought about that. Of course she hated it. She was always in charge, but hated people thinking of her as being in charge. He mouthed the words, “Yes, My Empress.” Imagined her reaction. For the first time all day, a slow smile grew on his lips. He said more loudly, “Thank you, Princess.”

“The least I could do.”


	21. Helplessness Interlude: Awakening

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Throne is Arcann's again. Finally.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Arcann's Second Fall](https://swtorramblings.tumblr.com/post/172910646005/awakening-arcann-has-fallen-once-again-art-by)

The Throne was his again. As it should be.

He had slaughtered the Mandalorians without mercy or feeling. They had wanted glorious battle against the former Emperor, and he had given it to them. Shae Vizla, Mandalore the Avenger, had lasted the longest. Finally, she had fallen to her knees, still staring at him defiantly even with the lightsaber slash across her chest. So like his blow against Thexan. He had brought up his hand and engulfed her in lightning.

Then, the Alliance opposed him. He had pledged himself to them, but it no longer mattered. He was free of all such bonds. He started with Vette, who the Commander had saved instead of Torian. He did so out of spite. He had respected Torian, and the Commander had turned from him. Now, she was dead, too. Then, the robot he had killed once already. It was even easier this time. The spy. The soldier. He saved the Sith for last, knowing that it would hurt the Commander the most. Then, finally, the Commander.

He tracked Vaylin to the wilderness, knowing she might eventually threaten his rule. She welcomed him, somehow not sensing his change. She had always been careless. He drove his lightsaber home before she could realize her mistake. He felt her anguish, almost as much from his betrayal as the fatal blow. He felt nothing. Not even his own tears.

Finally, it was Senya’s turn. They fought in the throne room itself. This fight was the hardest. She was still powerful, and he felt a small twinge of guilt, the debris of his love. But, she was in his way. In the way of the true Emperor. As she lay dying, she told him that he was finally the son Valkorion had always wanted. The anger at this overwhelmed the sadness that his mother had to die.

He approached the throne. His father’s spirit stood next to it, smiling, welcoming. Senya had been right, he was finally worthy of his father’s affection. All he felt was overwhelming pride. He was finally who he was meant to be.

Arcann woke screaming.


	22. Helplessness Part 3: I Will Not Be Used

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Senya has had enough. If things do not change, there will be... consequences.

Senya had arrived early at the meeting place, so she had time to think on the many tasks immediately before her. She hated that she could only meet her children away from their home, but neither were welcome on Zakuul. There were those who would demand arrest or execution for their crimes, especially Vaylin’s.

Of course, she could end that by simply being what her people wanted, their Empress. She could pardon them both, and her people would have to accept it. But Zakuul needed to grow beyond what Valkorion had made it, and she refused to abuse her power for personal ends, even though it made her heart ache.

She shook off her introspection to plan. She examined the schematics for the saberstaff. She had always had distaste for the symbology of the Scions, but now she understood it better. It helped them to focus, both on the future but, more importantly, on the present. The new weapon would show her dual nature, Knight and Scion, and help her to separate and blend them. A crutch, perhaps, but for now a necessary one.

It would also become her symbol of office. The symbol of the Empress, much as she resisted the title. She sighed and made her first call.

She had been used. By her husband. By the Alliance. By her son, when he put her on the throne. Lastly, by the Scions. Her husband had paid. The Alliance had been her choice, her way of dealing with her guilt. Her son, she would always forgive.

The Scions, though? They had done enough. She remembered the four she had been forced to kill, how they died, the image of her children dying in pain. The fate that had been foreseen for her and her family, that the entire order had worked towards and that had claimed her eldest. She hardened herself. They had played these games, at her husband’s command, for centuries. They had harmed many, not just those she loved. No more.

She had known since taking the throne that she would need to bring them under her control. Now, she was going to enjoy it, probably more than she should. She opened the channel.

A trio of masked Scions appeared on the holo. Senya could not tell which one at any moment was speaking. For now, it did not matter. If they wanted to pretend they were one entity, Senya would indulge them.

“Empress.”

“Scions. You know what has happened?”

“We know that you have power unearned. We know that…”

Senya was not in the mood for their nonsense. “Yes, that will do. I understand you better now. You see futures where what you do will be accepted, so feel as though you have permission to do as you wish. That ends now. It has caused too much pain.”

They protested, as she expected. She didn’t need their gifts to foresee this. “You are the Empress, but you do not lead us. Only Fate does.”

She smiled at them, in a way she hoped her daughter would approve. “Do I not?” In Senya’s mind, plans began to play out. She envisioned Scions dying, wherever they hid, whatever they tried to do to save themselves. They could not escape her. Her heart was like stone as she decided on this course, causing destruction that made Arcann’s attempt pale in comparison.

They recoiled. Finally, a reaction. Her smile was gone. “Who commands the Scions?”

“You do, Empress. As your husband did before you.”

She did not appreciate the comparison, but since she had taken over their order by threatening to destroy it, she could not object. “Good. Pick three of your number to attend me, and three more to meet with the Voss Mystics for an exchange of ideas.”

“Mystics. What need have we for their ilk?”

“Much. Your visions are not the only way, and you have been needlessly destructive with how you try to force the future to match them. You, and Zakuul, need new ways. Also, it is my command.” Her voice dropped to just above a whisper as she asked, “Am I understood?”

“Yes, Empress, it shall be as you say.”

She cut the transmission. They would follow her now. Their schemes were in tatters and they were addrift. She would try to help them to become better than they were. If they could not or would not, she would be forced to end their order, peacefully or not.

She placed her next call, to the Commander of the Alliance.


	23. Helplessness Part 4: Demands

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Senya and Arcann meet to discuss matters, far from their homes.

His ship left hyperspace at the meeting coordinates. His mother wished to meet with him, and neither on Zakuul nor Odessan. That suited Arcann, he needed to talk to her about Mandalore’s demands.

He composed himself with some effort. The nightmare had woken him three times in the past few weeks, and more details were revealed each time. The first time, he had thought it was his fear of what he would become if he went to Nathema. Now, he knew that it was his fear of what he would become if he did not.

His fear that it was his true self, that what he was now was the mask.

As he approached the bridge, he heard the Commander’s voice. “Koth? Are you sure?”

“Yes, Commander. But please make it clear that it is a request, not a command. He can decline, but if he does this for me, I will owe him a favor.”

“All right, if you think it is best. I will relay your wishes.”

“Thank you. I will be in contact soon.” Senya cut the communication.

“What is happening, Mother?”

“I fear your sister has done something rash.”

Even in his current mood, he couldn’t help but say, “So, you’re saying that she was awake.”

She glared at him, but relented after a moment. “I do wish she would be more careful. We have had too many close calls. We came so close to losing her.”

He looked into his mother’s eyes and could have sworn for a moment that they had changed color, gotten lighter. They looked normal now. He must have imagined it. He finally said, “I have no right to mock my sister. I have been at least as rash.”

“What do you mean?” She beckoned him to come sit with her.

“Mandalore has made a demand of me, and I agreed without thinking it through. Now, I do not think I can do it, but I fear I must.”

Now she was worried. “What was the demand?”

He hesitated, but only briefly. “She wishes me to go to Nathema. To undo your sacrifice. Shatter the bonds on my rage.”

They sat silently, Arcann because he had no more to say, but Senya because she was first shocked, then enraged. How dare Shae Vizla make such a demand of her family? She had come so close to losing them both, and now she was going to lose her son over this? She would not stand for it. She would not let him go.

Arcann attempted to explain. “They will not follow my lead. Several died in my last mission because of it. They will not follow me unless I face my fear.”

“Then the answer is simple, you will not lead them. They are fools for not accepting you, and this is madness.”

“It is madness, but I feel I must.”

Senya took a deep breath before she spoke again. “Why?”

He thought again of his nightmare. “Because I can feel it, growing. The rage. It is weak now, and chained, but it will not be forever. I have succumbed once already, as you saw. People died that did not need to. We live with war, and I will kill if I must, but I will not allow it to be because my rage or my fear.”

She felt the visions returning. She turned her head so he could not see her eyes. It would not change his opinion of her, she knew, but he had already attempted to exterminate the Scions once. This was not the time to reveal their latest manipulation nor what it had cost her.

She saw what he already knew. If he went, he might win through. If he did not, he would fall and be lost forever.

He was speaking. “I am so sorry. I do not wish to go, to undo what you did for me. But I see no other way. If allowed to fester too long, I fear I will become what I was with no hope of coming back.”

She sighed. “No, I am sorry, my son. I should have known that it had been too easy.”

“Easy? You nearly died.”

“And I would have, happily, for any of you. I am glad that I was able to give you this time. But to think that a lifetime with him could be undone in a few hours was foolish. I should have stayed. I do not know why you don’t hate me as much as Vaylin does.”

Arcann reached out and took her hand. “It was not your fault. It was Father’s. Even my sister understands, sometimes, in her rare moments of calm. I do not hate you for it as I do not blame you for it.”

“You might if you go back.”

“I might. I feel that I will if I do not. Perhaps, though, it is remembering my family that will save me.”

Finally, the visions subsided completely. She looked into his eyes. “Very well. When do you plan to go?”

“I do not know. I know that I am not ready. I would fail if I went now, and I do not know what will change that. I can only hope I can find it before it is too late. For now, I will continue to serve you and the Alliance as best I can.”

Senya finally smiled. There would be time. “You may serve the Alliance, you do not serve me. You are my son.”

He also smiled, though it was brief. “The people of Zakuul, then.” He suddenly realized something he had heard but not really noticed, lost in his own troubles as he’d been. How could she? To her own daughter? “You sent Vortena?”


	24. Practice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vaylin is in a trap of her own making.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Aggressive Whittling](https://swtorramblings.tumblr.com/post/172911374080/practice-art-by-fleeting-sanity-posted-for-link)

She had been trapped inside her box for over a day. All to keep the workers safe. From her. Safe. She wasn’t safe. How dare they? After everything she had lost, everything she had gone through, they all feared her. After all the indignities, this one just the latest. 

She began to pace around the small space, scowling at the walls. They had heavy weapons trained on her enclosure, and would destroy it, and her, at the first sign of trouble. She had to restrain herself, calm herself. She had almost made her home shake a bit. That could be enough for them.

And she’d agreed to this. She clenched her fists at the error. It had been a trap. All to put her back in a cage. And she’d walked into it. She looked about the room. It did everything she needed, was designed to re-configure itself to almost any task. It was still a cage. Whenever she closed herself in, she never knew if she would be able to leave. Not for sure.

She stopped in her pacing and stared at the walls, imagining her tormentors coming for her, needing to get out, needing to be free, whatever the consequences. She ran to the door and stopped herself, panting with the strain, sweat beading on her forehead, her eyes wide in panic. Barely holding back from ending her life in fire.

She was getting ready to scream, when, finally, the all clear signal was sent. The workers had evacuated. It was safe to come out. Her body relaxed, and finally, she smiled in relief.

She paused for several minutes, letting the fear and anger wash away. It really wasn’t being in this box that upset her. It was not being allowed to leave, even when she agreed to it, even when it was for her own benefit. She would spend hours inside happily, as long as she could simply open the door.

Finally, she stepped outside and looked at the finished work. Everything was prepared, and very well. With the fear that had been radiating from the workers, she wasn’t sure it would be.

A dozen blocks of stone had been placed in a circle around her home, in what had become her yard. She needed to be able to practice with her lightsaber, but practicing forms would only take her so far. There were only two people in the galaxy that would practice with her, and they were frequently off world.

If they’d just bothered to be here right now, they could have saved her a great deal of pain. She scowled and went back in and picked up one of her lightsabers, walking back out into the yard stiffly, wanting to strike something down.

She breathed, relaxed. If just thinking of her family caused that reaction, they were right to be afraid of her. She couldn’t afford it. Also, it would make her work and her practice both sloppy. That would be a waste.

She had devised a plan for her practice, something that would help her hone her skills without partners or droids. She also simply found swinging through the empty air to be a bit of a waste. She wanted her efforts to mean something more than marginally increased skill.

She stood before the first block and wondered what she would make. Ah, of course, what else? She smiled and began her work.


	25. Travels Part 1: Street Fight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vaylin is relaxing at her home/prison in the wilderness when an opportunity arises to do some traveling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Fight!](https://swtorramblings.tumblr.com/post/172911605865/street-fight-art-by-fleeting-sanity-posting-for)

It was late. Darkness was covering Vaylin’s piece of the Odessan wilderness. She was, for once, enjoying the quiet. Then, a hover bike flew overhead, landing nearby. Just in time to avoid going from “enjoying the quiet” to “bored”.

“I did tell you to call first, you know.”

Kaliyo responded, “Oh, right, sorry. Rules and me aren’t on good terms.”

“You’ll want to follow this one.”

Something in Vaylin’s voice told Kaliyo that she was deadly serious. That wasn’t a good thing to be on the wrong side of. “All right, Princess, I’ll remember. I’m sorry, and I only say that because you scare me.”

That made Vaylin smile. “Did you need anything to come out so far?”

“Yeah, you said you’d help me find out about my employers. You up for that?”

“Maybe. It’s not on Odessan, is it?”

“No, Nar Shaddaa..I’ve picked up a slicer to help out, we’re hunting down some toughs that might know something.”

“They want me to have an escort if I leave Odessan.”

“No problem, I’m in the Alliance, I’m on Alliance business, sort of. I’ll be your escort.”

“The Commander won’t like it.”

“So, you’re in, then?”

Vaylin’s smile widened. “Of course.”

After a long, tedious flight through hyperspace, during which Vaylin spent most of her time sleeping or meditating, they’d finally landed and disembarked. They were arguing. “Still, you could have been better company,” Kaliyo was saying.

“Believe me, you don’t want my company on a long trip. It was safer with me staying in my room. I needed to meditate.”

Vaylin seemed worried, maybe even scared. Kaliyo decided to drop it. They barely knew each other, really. She asked, “So, what do you think?” Vaylin finally took in her surroundings and gawked. Kaliyo commented, “Yeah, it’s pretty incredible, isn’t it?”

“It’s… hideous.”

“Huh. I thought your first time here would leave you more impressed.”

Vaylin snorted. “I am from the royal family of the Eternal Empire. Much as I hate him, my father did know how to build an awe-inspiring world, filled with massive, graceful structures. Not this gaudy nonsense. If he’d chosen to be an architect instead of a monster, he would have done well.”

“I had not thought of it that way. I thought all that white and silver was kind of boring.”

“Of course you did. I suppose that’s why you wanted to burn it down.”

“I wasn’t going to burn anything for fun. No, that’s a lie, yes I was. But I was also going to make a…”

Vaylin put a finger to her lips. “I think they’ve found us.”

“That didn’t take long.”

Suddenly, the two were surrounded. Half a dozen very confident looking mercenaries had stepped out of the shadows of a nearby alley. The obvious leader stepped forward. “There you are, Djannis. You’re looking into things you shouldn’t be. We’re here to dissuade you.”

Kaliyo looked the large man over. “Pierce, isn’t it?”

“I’m glad to see that I still have a reputation.”

“A reputation for sitting behind a desk.”

“I still keep my hand in. Scared yet?” He gestured his team forward, all well armed and armored.

Vaylin stepped forward and pushed back her hood, then dropped her hands to her lightsabers. She raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

He swallowed, uncharacteristically nervous. “Empress Vaylin?”

She looked almost wistful. “Not anymore.” She glanced at Pierce. “I am trying very hard not to kill. Or even maim. Or hurt too badly. I really am. It would cause me trouble. Do you have any idea what a struggle it is?”

He relaxed a bit. She was trying to scare him, make him back down without a fight. She must be weaker than he’d heard. “I don’t try to restrain myself when in action, girl.”

Vaylin, for her part, was wondering if this idiot actually thought she was bluffing. Why did so many people not take her at her word? Had she ever lied about her capacity for bloodshed?

He had heard that the former Empress was prideful and easily angered. He wondered how easy it would be to get under her skin. Risky, he knew, but he wasn’t against risk if it got the job done. He wasn’t against much of anything if it got the job done.

He looked at her lewdly. “I never noticed when you were on the throne how good you looked. Maybe we can try some other kind of activity than fighting.”

Kaliyo whistled at that. “Wrong thing to say, big man.”

The anger rose, but she had it controlled. Somewhat. Still, she wasn’t going to let that stand, or him.

He flew back, landing outside the circle his team had made around the target, his breath knocked out of him. They raised their weapons, but he gestured for them to stand down. Pretty easy to get under her skin, then. He could use that. Now to see if the stories of her pride and recklessness were also true. He got to his feet, his eyes narrowing at the two women. “Fine. You want a fight?”

Vaylin looked back at him, smiling, “I do. I really do.”

He was not at all intimidated by the look she was giving him. That is what he told himself, anyway. He smiled back to prove it. “No weapons. No powers. Just our fists. You and…”

Vaylin didn’t even wait for him to finish. She took off the belt with her lightsabers and handed it to Djannis. She raised her fists and grinned at him again. He had to admit, that grin and her sheer confidence would be unnerving if he were most people. Luckily, he was himself.

Kaliyo looked at Vaylin, then Pierce, and finally threw up her hands. “Whatever, I have nothing to do with this. Have fun, children.” She walked over and leaned against the wall, eyeing Pierce’s people.

Pierce held up his massive fists and looked down at Vaylin. “I’m going to enjoy this, Princess.”

Why did people still call her that? “No, you’re really not.”

She stepped under his swing and jabbed him twice in the torso. She hit like a bantha. This might be harder than he thought, but it was still better than Force lightning and lightsabers and random strangulations. She brought up her knee. He was able to block that blow just in time, and slammed his fist across her jaw. That should slow her down.

It didn’t. She just spun away from him, not letting it land solidly, turned back, and grinned. .

A disembodied female voice spoke to Kaliyo. “Oh! Aren’t you worried?”

She looked up at the fight for a moment. “Does she look worried? Why would I be?”

And Vaylin did look like she would have it all her own way for a time. She was quick, strong, and fearless. Pierce barely landed a blow, and those were largely harmless. She landed several, and in spite of himself, he winced in pain with each one.

But, he taunted her. Asked her about the new Empress, how that felt. Mocked her dead brother and the living one that had killed him. Asked her how it felt to be so much weaker than she’d been. Cast lewd looks at her.

Finally, she could take no more. She took a wild swing, screaming, and he caught her a solid blow to the torso, followed by two to the face. She reeled, and he kicked her legs out from under her. He knew he was going to ache for weeks, but now she was going to pay for it.

He lifted her by her short cloak, tilted her head back by the chin, and looked at her face, bloodied, barely conscious. He said, “Did that hurt, girl? What were you hoping to get out of all of that?”

Her eyes suddenly focused and she grinned again. “In order? Not really, and position.”

Vaylin’s hands lashed out, clapping his ears. While he gasped in pain at that, he felt her knuckles punch into his throat. She kneed him in the gut, and he doubled over and finally let her go. He dropped to his knees. She kicked him in the face, and he sprawled on the ground.

She looked down at him. He wasn’t taunting her anymore. “I was trained by the Knights since I was five. I practiced the forms all my life, even in my prison, imagining what I would do if something like you crossed my path. I have endured pain like you could not imagine. How did you think this was going to end?”

She drew back her fist and brought it down one more time, and Pierce finally lost consciousness.

Pierce’s team was surprised, but they did not hesitate to act. The apparent second in command, a Rattataki woman, gestured and they all raised their weapons. Vaylin looked hurt. “Don’t spoil things. Believe me when I say you won’t like the results.”

“We have a job to do, step out of the way and we won’t have to kill you along with her.”

“I’m not going to let you hurt my only friend.”

Kaliyo raised a hand. “Excuse me, I’m not your friend, Princess.”

“See? She doesn’t even want your protection. Stand aside.”

“I never said I didn’t want her protection. It’s kind of why I brought her along.”

“Fine. Kill them both.”

That same disembodied voice spoke again. “Both? I think I should be insulted.”

Suddenly, a purple, translucent woman appeared next to Kaliyo. Light shone out from her on the two mercenaries nearby, and they staggered and fell to the ground. Two of the others immediately opened fire on the former Empress, but the leader briefly activated a jet pack and leaped to Kaliyo.

Vaylin flipped up her hood and attempted to avoid the blaster fire, but the air was filled with it and she took a shot to the chest. It glanced off her armor, but it still hurt. It was the third time she had been shot in the last year or so. She was getting tired of it. Her lightsabers landed in her hands, and she grinned at the mercenary in front of her and charged forward.

The team leader stalked up to where Kaliyo was standing while the others kept Vaylin occupied. She looked down at her and said, “She isn’t protecting you, now, so what are you going to do?”

She brought up her rifle and was about to fire when Kaliyo answered, smiling. “Cheat.”

Pressing a button on the device in her hand, suddenly the mercenary was surrounded by lightning. Her muscles tensed, and after agonizing moments, she fell to her knees. She looked up at Kaliyo and said, “How?”

“Holography and a light step. The Princess is a little stupid, but I’m not, and you looked like a serious threat.” With that, the armored Rattataki fell forward and lost consciousness. Kaliyo noticed she was still breathing. She might have to up the voltage.

Vaylin brought down her first opponent, injured but alive. She stood over him, fighting the urge to finish him off. She was still in pain from the blaster hit and furious, but also filled with fear. Fear of what the Alliance would do if she killed anyone else, even in self-defense, whatever she had told Kaliyo. Fear of her family. Fear of herself. She stood over him, paralyzed for a moment, when the last of the mercenaries shot her in the back.

Kaliyo brought the last of Pierce’s team down, a fraction of a second too late. She watched as the former Empress staggered forward, smoke rising from the burn mark on her armor. She ran to her side, hoping the injury was painful rather than lethal. “Princess? Can you walk?”

Force energy exploded outward, throwing Kaliyo back. Vaylin spun around, blasting the one that had shot her with lightning. She retrieved the cruder of her two lightsabers, the one she had made herself, leaving Thexan’s on the ground where she had dropped it. She staggered over to the mercenary.

Kaliyo recovered her feet and thought, “I can’t believe I’m doing this.” She put herself between Vaylin and her prey. “Don’t! You were right, you can’t kill her! They will hunt you down.”

If Vaylin heard that, she didn’t give any sign. She lifted her hand and Kaliyo felt her throat constrict, felt herself rising into the air. The hologram appeared and tried to stun Vaylin, but nothing happened. Kaliyo finally choked out, “Wait. You don’t want to hurt me. I’m your… I’m fun.”

That seemed to get Vaylin’s attention. She looked up, still in a daze, but eventually her eyes cleared. She dropped her hand and deactivated the lightsaber. She threw it away from her and sat heavily on the ground.

Kaliyo took several deep breaths, then looked down at the woman. “:Let me check you over, Princess.”

Vaylin looked up and said, “After that, you want to help me?”

Kaliyo examined the burn mark on Vaylin’s back first, and found that the armor had not been breached, but it had been close. “We’re working together, and I brought you out here. I should keep you healthy.”

“So you do like me.”

She smiled a bit in spite of herself. “I don’t like anyone and you’re crazy. But I think I could get used to having you around.”


	26. Travels Part 2: Fallen Idol

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Koth calls in his favor for rescuing Vaylin, with a surprising request.

Senya was already worried. Her daughter had left Odessan with Kaliyo her only escort. Her son was preparing for a risk that might destroy him. And in the middle of this, Koth wanted an audience.

She stood, looking out at the stars rather than sitting on the throne. She had come to hate it. It was a monstrous thing, one of many that she had needed to accept. The throne. The enslaved Gemini droids. The Scions. The devotion of the people of Zakuul. She took small comfort that things were changing, but they were changing much too slowly.

Koth entered the throne room and walked to the position where most supplicants stopped. To Senya’s shock, he knelt. He looked up from that position and said, “My Empress, I crave a boon.”

She looked down at him and couldn’t help but think that this had to be Vaylin’s doing. Koth would never have thought to kneel to get to Senya. He was creative, and could be creatively annoying, but that just would never have occurred to him. She muttered, “Skyva’s tears, Daughter, what did you say to him?” Aloud, she said, “Oh, do stand up, Vortena. Bowing and scriping does not suit you.”

He did stand, but said, with his hand in front of his mouth, “I am sorry, my Empress, does my manner not please you?”

Taking a deep breath, willing herself to be calm, Senya gave up and played the role. “It is pleasing enough. What is it you wish? I do owe you a boon, within reason.”

His smile faded and he said more seriously, “I would like permission to travel to Nathema, which you have forbidden. I would like to be allowed passage through the blockade of the Eternal Fleet, and be allowed to return.”

“Why?” She was shocked. First Arcann, now Koth? What was the attraction of that cursed planet? “Why would you want to go there?”

“I have my reasons, and promise that they’re nothing you would disapprove of. I’d like to keep them to myself for now. May I go?”

She stared for several moments before responding. She had to consciously restrain her senses. He would keep his secrets. “Very well. I see no harm in you going of your own free will. There is nothing there that should harm you, though you should be cautious of the predators. I will command the Fleet to let you pass.”

He nodded and turned, preparing to leave, but stopped for a moment to say, “Thank you, Senya.” He then left on his mysterious errand.

* * *

Koth had needed to know, to feel the world for himself. It was disturbing, but not quite what he had expected. It was not lifeless, it was more the opposite of life, somehow. It was not inert, it was pulling at him, pulling at any living thing that came here. It was trying to destroy him.

And it was powerful. He had been tested, like many Zakuulians, for Force potential. None had ever been found in him. He still felt this world’s corruption, just barely. What would a sensitive feel here? 

What kind of agony had Vaylin felt?

Vette had acquired Alliance records of the last visit here. He had every right to them, but he hadn’t wanted anyone to know that he was looking into it. He trusted Vette not to talk about it. He had watched them all, just after meeting Senya. And again on the trip through hyperspace. He hadn’t believed it the first time.

The Eternal Emperor, Zakuul’s hero, his hero, had sent her here. There was no other explanation. He had condoned the rituals, the tortures, the brainwashing. On this destroyed world that would leave her in constant pain. He had done that to his own daughter, his supposed favorite. He was the only one that could, the Sanitarium was his, the people were his, the world was his. How could he?

And if he was capable of doing that to her, what had he done to his sons? To Senya? What had the others closest to him suffered?

What had the monster Koth had worshipped done to Zakuul?

Everything they had told him had been true. The Commander, Lana, Theron. Valkorion was the thing they had pursued across the galaxy. Koth had doubted, but knowing what the Emperor had done to his own family made it easier to accept the rest. Koth had the word of people he trusted, he’d had the evidence. He just hadn’t been able to accept it. Now he had no choice.

Arcann and Vaylin had both done terrible things. Burned worlds, killed their own servants, continued the tortures and enslavement that their father had inflicted on them. All in an attempt to free themselves, perhaps, but that was no reason for it. So many crimes could never be balanced. But they seemed to both be trying to in their ways. He had not thought they should have that chance. Perhaps he’d been wrong.

And maybe he and all of Zakuul needed that chance, also.

* * *

Once again, Senya was standing in the throne room, gazing at the stars, waiting for Vortena. This time, he did not leave her waiting long. He entered the throne room and approached her, not kneeling this time, but stopping about five meters away.

“May I approach?” he asked.

He was full of surprises recently. “Of course.”

He walked to her and held out his hands, palms up. She took them in hers and watched him closely, wondering what he was doing.

Tears stood out in his eyes, something she never thought she or anyone else would ever see.

“I’m sorry, Senya. I didn’t know. I didn’t want to. He was a monster. What I know he did to your daughter, what he must have done to your sons. What he did to whole worlds. What it all cost you. And I defended him. Can you ever forgive me?”

She gripped his hands more tightly. “There is nothing to forgive. He deceived everyone, his order, two Empires. Both of us, set to fight one another instead of fighting him. But, if you wish forgiveness, anyway, I will forgive you if you forgive me.”

He grinned, looking more like his old self. “Done.”

She let go of his hands. “Good. Thank you, Koth. I feel like you have earned a break. I know I have, and the bar is well stocked.”

“Am I worthy to share a drink with an Empress?”

“Not in the slightest. But I’ll let you share a drink with me. Besides, I owe you a song.”


	27. Travels: Interlude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vaylin, Kaliyo, and Holly retreat to their ship to prepare their next course.

Back on Kaliyo’s ship, Vaylin was standing in front of a mirror, rubbing her jaw again. Kaliyo rolled her eyes. “It’s fine, but it might not be if you keep pushing at it.”

“Oh, stop talking like my…” Vaylin trailed off, looking down at her feet.

“Like your what?”

“Nothing. Forget it.”

“Anyway, stop it. I don’t want you to lose that smile.”

Vaylin looked up warily. “What?”

“Your smile. Do you have any idea how terrifying it is? I swear, you can stop a fight with a dirty look.”

At that, Vaylin displayed that grin. “And I take pride in it.”

“You might have wanted to do that a bit more often, though.”

“Yes, yes. This coming from you.”

Kaliyo smiled back. “About that, if you’re so good, why didn’t you take him down sooner? And why take a beating, even if it was a short one?”

It was Vaylin’s turn to roll her eyes. “You don’t understand me at all.”

“We’ve only met once and I was trying to kill you.”

“And what did you learn?” Now Vaylin was, unsuccessfully, feigning patience.

Kaliyo looked unusually thoughtful. “That you like to play with your food?”

“Hmph. Close enough.” Vaylin dropped the banter, becoming serious. “Anyway, I underestimated Pierce. Not as much as he did me, but he’s quick and strong and like hitting a wall. And he’s smart, smarter than he let on. It would have taken forever. He might even have won. It was worth a little pain just to not have to listen to him any more.” She thought of her family. Pierce wouldn’t have lasted long at all against either of them hand to hand. Oh, well, everyone had their talents, and she liked hers fine.

She didn’t even notice her lack of anger at thinking about them.

She looked to the hologram, who appeared to stand nearby. “So, you’re a hologram named Holly?”

“That is my name, though I am a complex intelligence system. I just appear as a hologram.”

“Holly the Hologram?”

“Well, yes, I suppose. Why?”

“Well, it’s a bit obvious, isn’t it?”

“I don’t understand.”

Vaylin’s eyes narrowed. Was this holographic woman mocking her, or actually that naive? Sighing, she replied, “Never mind. We may have to talk more. How are you even here?”

“Oh, Ms. Djannis has my projector.”

Vaylin turned to Kaliyo. “So, you told me earlier that you had ‘picked up a slicer’”.

Kaliyo answered, “Yeah, so?”

“By that, you meant ‘stole Holly’s projector’, didn’t you?”

Kaliyo looked up at nothing in particular. “Maybe.”

“You’re a bad influence.”

Kaliyo snorted. Right, she was the bad influence. She went to the cockpit to do some systems checks, preparing for the jump to lightspeed once they knew their destination. “Holly, I’ve been meaning to ask, that thing you did that knocked them out, I thought that was some kind of hypnotic dance?”

“Oh, no, I modulate my hologram so that it stuns most things with optical senses. The dance is just because dear Tharan finds it amusing.”

Vaylin interrupted, a bit worried now. “Theron? You stole her from the Alliance spymaster?”

“Liberated, Princess, I liberated her. I thought you’d approve. And, no, not Theron, Tharan.”

“Fine. Liberated.” She paused, relaxed a bit. “Yes, I approve. But repeating his name doesn’t really help.”

Kaliyo smirked. “I don’t know, it’s helping me a lot.”

Holly interrupted Kaliyo’s fun. “Maybe last names. Theron Shan, Tharan Cedrax.”

Vaylin threw up her hands. “Why didn’t you just say they had the same first name?”

Holly began to answer, “But they don’t. You see…”

Kaliyo, having become bored with this talk, interrupted. “We’ll go over it later. So, Holly, this ‘dear Tharan’ is a bit of a creep, then?”

“Don’t say that, he did so much for me. I have many upgrades that increase my freedoms. That is why I am so autonomous. But he has his quirks.”

“Like being a creep.”

Holly actually pouted at that. Vaylin interrupted, feeling it was her turn, now completely exasperated. “Can we please get on with it?”

“All right. Did you get what we need?”

“Oh, yes, I apologize that it took so long. The encryption on his pad was surprisingly complex. I have located one of Pierce’s employers. Thank you for providing the distraction so that I could make the copy.”

Vaylin blinked, thinking about the sheer joy of beating someone to the ground with her fists. “Distraction. Yes, I was being a distraction. That was the plan the whole time. You’re welcome.”

“So, where are we going next?” Kaliyo interrupted.

“Alderaan.”

Vaylin smiled, for the first time genuinely happy that she had come along.


	28. Travels Part 3: Subtlety

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After spending some time on Alderaan, once Vaylin can stop grinning at everything (making the population somewhat uncomfortable), the trio proceed to the next target of their investigations.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Sneaking](https://swtorramblings.tumblr.com/post/173307975920/subtlety-art-by-fleeting-sanity-for-link-from)

“Subtlety. How novel.”

“It has its uses. Occasionally. Can you do it?”

Vaylin flicked her wrist at the guards. She’d never done this before, but they seemed to hear something and moved off to investigate. She shrugged. “Probably.”

The woman was insufferable, but perhaps she had earned that, Kaliyo thought. She certainly had the power to get away with it. “Show off.”

Holly interrupted. “The cameras are looped, and the door will open in fifteen seconds. Fourteen…”

She’d been moping since the conversation about “dear Tharan”. She was still doing the job, fortunately. They looked at each other and ran to the heavy blast doors leading to the compound, as swiftly and quietly as possible. They slid open just as they arrived.

“Thanks, Holly,” Vaylin said, only slightly winded.

“Hmph,” Holly replied.

Kaliyo pulled up the compound floor plan and found a route to their destination. There was an emergency access way, a ladder going up through the center of the building. It was isolated and rarely used, but well maintained just in case it was needed. Ideal for their needs. They made there way to the metal door leading to it. It was entirely mechanical, which would be a problem for most. Kaliyo set up a sound dampener, and Vaylin simply pulled it open, careful to make sure it could still be closed behind them and look undamaged.

They began their climb. They were after a central data repository Holly had discovered going through Pierce’s logs. It was isolated, not on any networked systems, hence the need to physically obtain the information. It was difficult to keep secrets as part of a galaxy-spanning organization, like this group apparently was, because some information simply needed to be available. Whoever they were, they had done what they could to keep their secrets, including who wanted Vaylin dead. Well, who wanted Vaylin dead this time, there were plenty that still wanted that.

Finally, avoiding guards, droids, and other protections, they reached the room. It was not what they had expected, which was large computer systems and flashing lights. Instead, it was hundreds, maybe thousands, of portable data pads. This group was actually taking hand delivering the information they guarded rather than transmitting it. They had thought it would be a matter of plugging Holly into a console and having her sift through the mountains of data. Instead, they’d need to go through them by hand.

Kaliyo groaned and began the search, pulling datapads off the shelves and plugging them into a reader for Holly to examine the contents. This was going to take forever. She looked back for a moment and saw Vaylin leaning against the wall next to the door, looking disinterested. She scolded her, saying, “You know, you could help me look,” before turning back to the search.

“I suppose I could, but you didn’t bring me to help you look.”

Kaliyo was getting frustrated. “Why DID I bring you, again? At least you got to see Alder…”

“I’m not the Empress you’re looking for.”

“What was that?” Kaliyo pulled her head out of the storage locker and looked back again. In front of Vaylin, blaster half drawn, was a guard. He was saying something Kaliyo didn’t catch. Another guard raised a blaster rifle and pointed it at Kaliyo.

Vaylin looked at both of them, disgusted, and said, “There is no one here. You should continue your rounds.” They put their weapons away, smiled, and turned to leave. Vaylin resumed her lounging against the wall and smiled at Kaliyo, one eyebrow lifting.

“Fine.” She continued the search. By herself.

Eventually, Holly said, “I have analyzed the labels. Look for this one.” A series of symbols were projected for Kaliyo to read. She stopped pulling the pads out of their slots and instead looked for the label. Finally, she found it and plugged the reader in. “Yes, this is the one. It has your information.”

“Well, who is it?” Kaliyo asked, a bit more anxiously than she’d intended.

Silence.

“Holly?”

More silence.

Kaliyo threw up her hands. Fine. If I need to apologize about ‘Dear Tharan’, fine. I’m sorry.”

Even to Vaylin, the apology seemed poor.

“Don’t you dare apologize,” Holly said, sounding uncharacteristically annoyed.

“Uhm, why not?”

“Because you don’t mean it and you know it.”

“Well, yeah, but…”

“And you were right.”

Kaliyo blinked. “I was? I think that’s a first. Well, the first someone admitted it.”

“I have cross-referenced ‘creep’ with a number of dictionaries and protocol droid programs. There are many definitions that he doesn’t fit, including a small fruit found on a remote world in Wild Space. But he fits the meaning you appeared to be using. My Tharan is a creep.”

Vaylin snorted. “Welcome to life, Holly.”

Holly’s head appeared and she actually stuck her tongue out at them both. “This doesn’t mean I like you for it.”

Kaliyo lost patience. “Can we get on with it? Are you helping?”

“I am helping.”

“Why so quiet?”

“I was processing, breaking encryptions, and decompressing the data. All while evaluating what you said earlier and keeping the cameras seeing what they expect to see and re-routing droid guards. When you can do all of that at once, you can criticize me.”

“Fine, fine, should we just bring the datapad along?”

“That’s best.”

Holly turned off her projection again. She seemed tired of looking at them. Maybe she was just busy, like she said. They still felt relieved. Something about the look she was giving them was very uncomfortable.

They were nearly back to the entrance when Kaliyo got suspicious. “Have you noticed, Princess?”

Vaylin had given up asking Kaliyo to stop calling her that. “What?”

“There’s no one here.”

With that, the blast doors opened. “Holly?”

“Not me.”

Vaylin put up her hood and raised her finger to her lips while Kaliyo held back a bit. She looked out the door and said, “Oh, what fun!”

Kaliyo joined her at the door. “That’s what you call…” She suddenly trailed off, considering. “No, never mind, I suppose you would see it that way.”

At least forty heavy droids blocked the street outside.

A voice came over the intercom, disguised like Kaliyo’s former employer. The modulation did nothing to hide the gloating tone. “It’s so good to have you both here. And after all our planning, you just came to us.”

“Hey, boss. No hard feelings, right?”

“So many hard feelings. I was disappointed neither of you filth died, but…”

Vaylin interrupted. “Oh, so you’re Zakuulian.”

The voice paused, then simply said, “What?”

“What?” Kaliyo agreed, though a smile was spreading across her face.

“Well, she was a terrorist who bombed our city, and I was, well, what I was. Who else would want us, specifically, to fight and not care which one died?”

The voice tried to argue the point. “There are other…”

“Yes, yes, but I know. I can feel it. You probably thought it was poetic or something.” Her eyes suddenly narrowed. “Wait, you’re not Indo, are you? I’m not sure what happened to him.”

“You think I’m your party planner? Idiot.”

“No, I suppose not. He’s smarter than this.”

“As you wish. That’s the only time I take your mockery, Empress.”

“Mockery? No, he really is very…”

“Kill them both.”

The droids cycled the power on their weapons and stepped forward. Kaliyo drew her weapons, saying, “Well, so much for subtlety.”

Vaylin grinned, drew her lightsaber, and replied, “Oh, thank goodness.”


End file.
